Frustration and Forks
by SunniGummi
Summary: Rosalie feels she is being treated unfairly by her mother and therefore decides she doesn't need to listen to her anymore - a mistake that leads to unpleasant consequences but also a much needed talk. Parallel story to 'Forks and Frustration'. Warning: Contains spanking of a teenage vampire!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello!**

**Here comes the parallel story to 'Forks and Frustration', hence the incredibly creative title of this story.**

**A little info first: This story here won't be as severe as the other one, but it will still contain spanking. If you have a problem with reading about corporal punishment, please stay away.  
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**Another little info: ****The chapters will sometimes contain parts of the other story, because it made sense to me in order to really make it parallel (I have tried not to do it and ended up writing and almost finishing the second chapter, but then I didn't have a first chapter and ... *sigh*)  
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**Really hope you will have fun reading this, so let's find out what happens!**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all the sparkly vampires and other characters in this story, I'm just manipulating them because I feel like it!  
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Angry stomping of feet and Edward's shouting disturbed the peaceful silence in the house.

Rosalie and Emmett heard, but it didn't bother them enough to make them break apart from the kiss they were sharing. They were sure that Jasper and Alice would take care of their brother in case he let his temper get out of hand, as they were able to see and feel what was going on without actually having to leave their room.

Besides, if Edward was throwing yet another temper tantrum, then it was definitely not their problem.

Family life was something Emmett and Rose needed to get used to anew, as they had spent the last few months travelling together, just the two of them. It was beautiful, the calmness and no one to disturb their togetherness. Now they were back with the rest of the family, back with a bunch of people they loved, but who would limit their privacy to a certain degree. Then there was the cover they maintained ... the time they spent at school were precious hours lost - both of them certainly had a better idea of how they could spent their eternal life than sitting in a classroom studying the same stuff over and over again. But that was the price they had to pay for a safe life with as much normality they could possibly have.

It got louder downstairs and when they could perceive Esme's voice, Emmett lifted his wife off his lap and made his way over to the door in order to tell his little brother to cut the crap. He knew Esme was downstairs and even though he was well aware that she could handle Eddie, he still wanted to check on them. Edward sounded mad and Emmett just wanted to offer his help - there was nothing that would justify him yelling at Esme and so Emmett had to see if he could put an end to it.

Rosalie pouted at being put on her feet and having to watch her husband heading for the door. She knew what he wanted to do and she could understand, but ever since their holidays were over and they had to attend classes at high school again, their private moments had become remarkably less.

"Emmett ..."

"Just checking on them, babe. I'll be right back," he replied in a voice that implied he would hurry.

She turned around, her arms crossed over her chest as she gazed out of the window. Once again their time together got disturbed ...

While she stood there and hoped Edward would get his temper in check so Emmett wouldn't be needed downstairs for too long, something outside caught her eye. A familiar car, Carlisle's Mercedes, was driving towards their house and that meant Carlisle would be home in a few moments. "Wait!" she called and looked over her shoulder at him, smiling about the odd but most welcome coincidence.

He stopped, his hand already on the door handle and his eyebrows were raised while he waited for her to enlighten him as to why he should wait.

"Carlisle's coming home. Let him take care of Edward," she said and laughed when he let go of the door handle with a wide grin on his face and sped back over to her, immediately lifting her up and sitting back down on the loveseat with her in his lap.

She laughed at his eagerness to continue where they left off, but after a moment she pulled away and stood up.

"Go make yourself comfortable, I want to show you my new dresses." She pointed to the bed and winked. Rosalie knew her husband would probably prefer to see her without clothes, but that would have to wait until nightfall. Besides, the dresses were gorgeous and he would definitely want to see her in them.

When Alice knocked on their room door just a few minutes after Carlisle must have entered the house, Rosalie already knew that something worse than just arguing must have happened. Well, the ruckus from downstairs had already given her a hint, but when Alice said they should leave the house, preferably _now_, it was as clear as day that someone was in trouble.

That someone could only be … Edward.

Everybody else seemed quite relaxed and in a good mood, just Edward was being stupid again and tried to make everyone miserable just because that was how he felt lately. That pattern repeated itself every few years, _every time_ they moved to a new place - it was ridiculous.

Fine, yes, she wasn't too happy that they had moved to this sleepy little town either, but she saw no reason for venting her displeasure like Eddie did.

She had really hoped they would move to a big city this time, some place where they could actually have some real fun and could maybe go out a few times a week. Somewhere where it would be a little more ... anonymous and not some town where people grow up together and know every piece of everyone's business. But no, her wish did not come true and it was once again hicksville for all of them.

Well, it was on them where they wanted to live and what they wanted to do, but she knew how much Emmett enjoyed having their big family around. He couldn't imagine leaving, and to be honest, she couldn't either. Living together as a family and going to school was a cover that had worked well for them ever since they learned to control their bloodlust. Besides, in a few years they would go to college again and get a house somewhere – at least that was an idea they were currently toying with.

But they weren't desperate to get away, as they were indeed lucky to be having a family that would put up with each other's idiosyncrasies and tempers.

Rosalie changed into a new pair of tights, a skirt and a dark blouse after Alice had left, then put on her favourite pair of heels and grabbed her purse. She quickly checked her hair and make-up in the mirror, then gave Emmett a nod, indicating that they could leave now. He immediately opened the door and put an arm around her shoulders when she was next to him.

While they strolled down the hallway and then descended the stairs, they could hear Alice and Esme talking downstairs.

"_You choose something, honey,_" Esme said, and it was no doubt meant for Alice.

Emmett immediately groaned loudly and scrunched up his face. "But she'll choose shopping, she _always_ chooses shopping!" he whined when they had reached the bottom of the stairs, drawing their family's attention. Going shopping with Alice was comparable to punishment, and he sure as heck hadn't deserved to be punished for he had been good!

Rose reached up and patted Emmett's hand that hung over her shoulder, knowing that he would prefer to do something that everyone would enjoy, not just Alice. Well, actually he would prefer to spend time with his wife in the privacy of their room, but since that wasn't an option anymore, he wanted to do something that was at least a little fun. Rosalie, too, wasn't really in the mood for leaving the house, but thanks to Edward their plans for the rest of the day were going down the chute.

Brushing a lock of her hair out of her eyes, she then lifted her head and looked between her parents and siblings.

She saw a little smirk playing on Esme's lips at hearing her sturdy son whine, and she said, "We'll decide on our drive to Port Angeles, yes?"

She probably wanted to make them get a go on and leave the details of how they were going to spend the night for the hour-long drive. Edward had done something, and now they had to leave the house, and soon.

They said good bye to Carlisle, and Rose glanced at him one last time before they headed for the garage. Their eyes met for a brief second, and Rose could see a hint of sadness in his slightly darkened golden orbs. It was so unfair that Carlisle always suffered most when one of the acted out. He always was the one to miss out on the family time they spent together whenever they had to leave the house for privacy reasons. Plus maybe he had wanted to spend some alone time with Esme today, as they had barely seen each other lately due to his work at the hospital and her work at home and organising the house moving. But no, Edward had most definitely done something really selfish once again and therefore effectively ruined the evening. And now Carlisle was left holding the bag and even had to do something he loathed. That was something about being a parent Rose didn't envy him.

And she didn't envy him having a son like Edward.

They entered the garage and descended the few steps when Emmett suddenly quickened his pace.

He was obviously in driving mood and wanted to make sure they would take his car and he would be the one driving it. But as he walked toward his Jeep, he all of a sudden stopped and exclaimed, "Woah! Does the old man need glasses now?"

_What? _Rose felt a frown appear on her face as she tried to understand what her husband was talking about. The Jeep looked fine, Carlisle had not harmed it while parking his car.

Together with Jasper, who was now standing next to her, they turned their heads in the direction Emmett was looking, and as their eyes fell on the passenger door of Carlisle's Mercedes, they detected what had him so startled.

Out of sheer disbelief of what she was seeing, Rosalie had to look twice before she realised that her Dad's car was indeed scratched. It didn't really look like Carlisle had gotten into a little accident, but more like someone had intentionally damaged the paint of the car … _but who would do something like that?_ They had just arrived in this town and certainly hadn't made any foes. Besides, Carlisle was the nicest person, she was convinced that no one would nurse a grudge against him. Maybe it was someone who didn't know him?

To find out how deep the scratch was - and to see if she could fix it, of course - she knelt down and squinted at the silver line that stood out from the pitch black paint.

"It's one single scratch, Emmett. That wasn't an accident," she told her husband, wondering if there was someone in this area who needed a little visit from a bunch of vampires for even daring to damage something belonging to them.

Or maybe Carlisle himself was to blame? No, if he had scraped it against something, or someone else had done it, the door wouldn't look like this. A dent, maybe, and definitely more scrapes. But all there was was a long scratch that couldn't have happened while driving. Besides, vampires didn't age like humans did, so Carlisle's eye-sight was most definitely still as good as ever.

She let her fingertips graze the offending mark in the paint, using her highly sensitive sense of touch to discern how difficult it would be to fix it. She knew that they had black car paint, but as far as she remembered they had left it behind at their house in Alaska since it was something they could easily buy anywhere. Well, she would just go to the shop tomorrow and get some.

While she was still eyeing the side of the car, Emmett let out a snort from beside her. "Well, what else could have happened then?" he asked, clearly amused about the damage.

Before Rosalie could voice her admittedly not too pleasant assumptions, her little sister skipped down the stairs to the garage and told them what she no doubt had witnessed in one of her visions. "Edward scratched Dad's car."

She didn't stop to see the scratch for real, just continued her way until she reached Emmett's red Jeep. Neither Rose nor Emmett followed her to the car and their lack of excitement for their impending shopping trip almost offended her. _Hello?_

"Let's get going!" she called, the tiniest hint of a whine detectable in her voice. She didn't want to waste a single second of her valuable time with this trifle here, but rather go check out the shops and boutiques in Port Angeles.

Emmett whistled while staring at her in disbelief about the piece of information she had given them. "The little one's got some nerve," he muttered, leaning with his back against the wall next to the door.

"_Accidentally_," Alice clarified and rolled her eyes. Then she tried to make them get a move on, but they remained where they were and she gave up.

After letting out a groan at her bad success, she climbed into the backseat of Emmett's car after Jasper had opened the door for her.

"Mom!" Emmett suddenly called and fumbled around in his jeans pocket to find his car keys.

"C'mon babe," he then said and walked to the driver's side of his car.

Rose had trouble detaching herself from the scratch. If she could, she'd stay home to fix this right now. Yes, it irked her _that_ much. And it wasn't fair - if Edward had wanted to scratch a car, he could have picked his stupid silver Volvo. Wouldn't make a difference, seriously. That piece of junk was disgracing their garage and taking valuable space that maybe Jasper or Alice could have used for a car of their own, since Edward now had two. But Jasper was just too modest and Alice preferred to spend her money on clothes.

Suddenly Rosalie had to suppress the urge to growl in frustration when she looked between Edward's shitty Volvo and the scratched Mercedes. _How could he? _This idiot really had no respect for other people's belongings!

And every morning he had the nerve to insult her beautiful red sports car, even though his taste in cars was obviously non-existent.

If he didn't like her convertible he could just walk to school, she didn't care. Besides, she didn't insist on driving his stupid ass around town, so he could keep his snide remarks to himself.

While she stood up, she could hear Esme walking into the garage, and a moment later she felt a hand being placed on her back gently, guiding her over to the car so they could finally leave.

Rose chose to sit next to Alice and Jasper in the back, so her mother could have the front passenger seat where she would have a little more space and be more comfortable.

"Buckle up," Esme said after having climbed into the car and seated herself, chuckling at hearing their groans of annoyance.

Emmett was quickest to comply with his Mom's request, even though he would have loved to refuse. They were probably the only vampires in the whole wide world that would have to buckle up in a car - it was a little embarrassing.

He quickly started the engine and sped out of the garage, and the more he pressed the gas pedal down, the more they got pressed into their seats.

While Rosalie still fumbled with her seatbelt, she could hear Esme chiding her husband; his answer was a cheerful laugh.

"Sorry, Mom," he added sheepishly and eased his foot off the accelerator, now steering the car down the path at a 'normal' speed.

Esme's chuckle a few moments later made Rose look up, and she could see Emmett's sad pout in the rearview mirror. _Oh, her poor baby …_ driving slow felt like being stuck in a traffic jam and he hated that.

So it didn't surprise her when her mate, the lively jokester that he was, started a conversation to entertain himself during the abnormally slow drive.

"Sooo …," he uttered, silently laughing to himself.

Esme looked at him and asked in a soft tone of voice, "Yes, Emmett?"

"Little Edward has been naughty?" he asked with a grin, and Rose couldn't help but grin also.

But too bad, Esme didn't like the specific topic – of course she didn't, Emmett was just being himself but when it came to her golden boy Edward, she wasn't able to see a joke.

"Emmett," Esme rebuked.

Of course she would rebuke him, no one was allowed to mention her precious baby being in trouble. She probably even blamed someone else for his mistakes, because Edward was just perfect in her eyes and could do no wrong.

"What?" he asked and looked slightly confused. "It's true, isn't it?"

_Why wasn't Emmett her favourite?_ Rose just didn't get it ... he was the most cheerful, warm-hearted and family-oriented person one could ask for. His personality could melt anyone's heart – unlike moody Edward. Rose had no clue why Esme would react like that when she knew Emmett just wanted to joke around.

She could hear Esme sigh, and that sound was followed by a little sing-song of 'He'll get a whoopin'.' coming from Emmett. His pretty dimples showed while he grinned, and Rose could practically feel his amusement. She was glad that he was happy again even though their day had been ruined by Edward. She would need a little longer to forget her plans for tonight and make do with a night at the movies or whatever they would decide on. But Emmett's buoyant spirit was helping her a lot right now.

Unfortunately that effect didn't last long, because the warning glance Esme shot him annoyed Rosalie when she saw it. Always the same … the get shooed out of the house because of Edward being an idiot once again, and Esme treats them like they were to blame.

Esme should let them have some fun, that's why Rosalie felt like saying something to not curb her husband's lovely spirit and to let him continue if he felt like it. Besides, maybe it was the right time for Esme to realise that Edward got himself in trouble – they didn't have any part in it. "Was about time."

"Rosalie, please," Esme uttered and even turned around to look at her.

Sure, a single word from her and Esme wouldn't waste any time to rebuke her.

"I'm just saying. He's insufferable since of late and I'm not surprised that he would cause trouble," Rosalie told her honestly, and waved her hand to underline just how obvious it was - and to show that she already knew Esme wouldn't believe her.

"_Rosalie._"

Ignoring her mother saying her name like it was a threat, she continued. "A sound thrashing would do him good."

It would do wonders for Edward, seriously.

While looking between her and Emmett, Esme said, "It is none of your concern what Edward has done or why your father asked us to leave for a little while."

_Oh, really?_ They get kicked out of the house, no matter what plans they had or that they didn't feel like going somewhere, and it was none of their concern? What if he had attacked someone? Or drawn attention? Shouldn't they be informed? If she would do something like that, the whole family would know immediately. Heck, Edward would even be the one to tell everyone, probably proclaim it loudly to show what a bad person she was.

But she had never slipped up yet. _Ha, in your face, Eddie._

It probably maddened him that she had so much self-control over her instincts, and he couldn't even keep his temper in check - throwing tantrums every other day like the spoiled brat that he was.

Rosalie huffed and barely got one word out when Esme ordered in a voice rarely as strict as it was now, "Not another word about your brother, you hear?"

_Yes, he is perfect, how dare anyone even say his name?!_

"Mom, he took his bad mood out on us, so don't you tell me to shut up," she retorted, noticing her own mood getting fouler by the second.

She could feel Jasper and Alice stiffen next to her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw them glancing at her like they thought she had lost her mind or something. But she hadn't - she had every right to voice her thoughts on this.

"I will want to talk to you as soon as we get back home today, Rosalie," Esme informed her blond daughter, a pointed look directed at her.

Rosalie's jaw dropped and the unfairness of it all kept her from keeping her mouth shut. "Are you blaming _me_ for his foul mood?"

Now Esme rowed back. "I am not blaming anyone, dear. Please don't get upset, let's just spend a nice evening together, yes?" she asked softly.

"Right," Rosalie scoffed in response and looked out of the side window.

_Exactly_ what Rose had expected to happen. Someone needed to be blamed for Eddiekins being in trouble - and Esme chose her.

Figures.

Probably wanting to end this little argument, Esme did not reply to her comment. She turned back around instead and looked relieved when she saw Emmett pushing one of his CDs into the player and turning the volume up.

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**Yeah, Rosalie really isn't too happy with little Eddie right now ... or Esme for that matter.**

**I'll have the second chapter up by tomorrow or the day after that, I think. Need to get Em under control first, because he obviously thought this story would be about him :-/ Silly Emmy ...  
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**Oh, please review! I'd love to know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**:-)**

**Thank you for your reviews! **

******It took me some time to make Emmett take a step back as this story isn't about him, but he can get so loud sometimes that it's hard to ignore him. But since Rose isn't really in the mood for talking, I guess it wasn't that bad that he stepped in *shrug***

**Hope you like it!**

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The music was still blasting when they reached Port Angeles after what had felt like an eternity. Driving slow was _slow_, Emmett realised, and he was glad that the drive was over. He pulled the Jeep into the parking lot behind the theatre and parked the car right next to the gate.

After he took the key from the ignition and they had hopped out, the discussion started.

Movie – shopping – movie – shopping.

Alice was adamant that they check out the little shops and boutiques, for they needed to fit in with the locals and therefore find clothes similar to the ones people around here were wearing. They knew immediately that she was just making that up - she would never want to fit in when it came to the clothes most teenagers were wearing. Jeans and hoodies? How _mundane_ ...

Esme mostly stayed out of the discussion, just telling them to keep it down once or twice.

Rosalie kept completely out of it. She couldn't care less what they'd be doing tonight, since her plans for today hadn't involved going to Port Angeles. So it was basically Alice and Emmett who would decide how they would spend their time here until they were allowed to return home.

As Jasper was just about to suggest that they could split up, Alice's eyes glazed over for a moment before she suddenly agreed that going to the movies would be an excellent idea.

While the rest of them just frowned at how suddenly she just changed her mind and the odd vision that must have to led to that, Emmett gave a loud cheer. Of course he would be overjoyed - he so wanted to see that new action movie as it would be the only thing that would entertain him now that they couldn't be home.

Since this wasn't the first time he had come here to watch a movie and he had driven around the block a few times already in search of a parking space, he immediately remembered something that his little sister would enjoy. So he told Alice that there was the cutest, little boutique just around the corner of the theater. They still had nearly an hour until the movie he wanted to watch would start, and so he thought it was a good idea to let the girls have some fun, too. It was sweet of Alice to give in and agree to his wish, after all.

Jasper and Emmett both decided to not join in the shopping spree, and told the girls they would just go for a walk and have a look around, then meet them at the theater again.

Esme smiled and placed a hand on Alice's shoulder, then waved Rosalie closer. "Come Rosalie, I'm sure we'll find something for all of us," she said and gave her blond daughter a little smile.

"No, thanks," was Rosalie's curt reply, and she didn't even look at Esme.

The smile left Esme's face, and she hesitated for a moment before asking, "You don't want to join us?"

"No."

"Well then, I guess we'll see you soon," Esme replied slowly, a hint of sadness in her soft voice.

But leave it to Alice to try and distract her as much as possible from that.

"_Come on, Mom!_ We need to hurry!" she urged and pulled on Esme's hand, making her follow her.

Esme looked back and waved at her three children before little Alice dragged her around a corner and they disappeared from view.

After he was sure Alice and Esme were out of earshot, Emmett turned to Rose and with a frown on his face he asked, "What was that all about, Rose?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied and looked away from him, averting her eyes. They knew each other so well that she knew he could read her like an open book, especially her eyes would give her away. But right now she didn't want to talk about what was bothering her, so hopefully he would understand and just drop it.

He didn't say anything for a moment, and when she lifted her head and glanced at him, he only gave her a look that implied she shouldn't be kidding him. "Yeah, right," he snorted.

She sighed, then cleared her throat and said, "I'm just not in the mood for shopping." That statement was accompanied by a casual wave of her hand.

"Well, I got the feeling that you're just not in the mood for Esme," he told her, still waiting for her to explain why she seemed to be so annoyed now.

All Rosalie did was raise an eyebrow, then she turned on her heel and stalking down the curb in the direction of the town centre.

Jasper and Emmett exchanged a look, then hurried after her.

"Are you pissed that she rebuked you?" Emmett asked, voicing his first guess. The tension in the car had been pretty noticeable, that's why he had tried to distract everyone with a bit of music. But it obviously didn't have the desired effect on his wife for she still seemed to be very much unhappy with what had happened.

"Like I care what she says," Rose snorted and rolled her eyes, then looked away again. She knew that Jasper knew how she was really feeling about this, but he seemed like he wanted to stay out of this and she was glad that he didn't join in the talk she didn't want to have right now.

"Is this about the talk? Come on, Rosie, you didn't say anything mean in the car. What can she possibly have to say to you at home?" Emmett tried to reason with her. He didn't like seeing her so down, and she really had no punishment heading her way, so she could loosen up a bit.

"Let her say whatever she wants," Rosalie replied and shrugged her shoulders like she couldn't care less what her mother had to say to her. Getting scolded for saying something 'mean' about poor little Edward had already ticked her off, and the prospect of getting a lecture on top of that was just a little too much for her right now.

When they reached a little playground area, Rosalie chose to sit down on one of the wooden benches. It wasn't dark yet, but late enough that all the parents with their children had already gone home. Emmett slumped down next to her, and soon Jasper sat, too.

As they sat there in silence, Emmett's mind started to race, and by the glances he shot his wife and brother it became apparent that he had a question he couldn't keep in any longer.

"What did Edward do?" It bubbled out of him, and his eyes gleamed with curiosity.

To be honest, Rose was also a tat bit curious about that. Why would Esme tell her that they are going to talk as soon as they come home if Edward hadn't done something bad? They had to leave the house because of that, didn't they? That boy must have really screwed up and was probably blaming her for it. Or maybe it was just Esme blaming her. But to be honest - whatever Edward had done, she had no part in it. Would Esme believe her? Hm, probably not.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Emmett was eyeing Jasper, who just groaned in response.

A grin formed on Emmett's face. "C'mon, you know something."

"Ever heard of privacy, Emmett?" Jasper asked exasperatedly.

"Yes, but since you and Alice already know what happened at home, and Mom and Dad too for that matter, the whole thing isn't private anymore, now is it?"

Emmett had a point here, both Jasper and Rose had to admit. It was only ever the two of them who had no clue about what was happening at home, and that was because they had no special powers that would give them glimpses of thoughts, futures or emotions. Was that fair? No. That's why Emmett always annoyed someone until that person would give in and tell him.

"Why would Esme want to talk to Rose?" he asked, because he had a feeling Jasper would answer that first. He couldn't give them the privacy-bullshit now, because Rosalie was here with them and it would be mean to leave her in the dark about the impending talk – her impending talk.

"Guys …" Jasper said, his face showing reluctance to comply with Emmett's request. Besides, he didn't know.

"Jasper, be fair."

Rose held up a hand and shook her head while looking at the ground. "Emmett, stop. I don't even care." She sounded tired. Tired of this topic or tired of this day – Emmett did not know, but he was still incredibly curious so he decided to continue until he had his answers.

"But I do," he replied, then looked at Jasper once again. He was grinning so broadly, that Jasper just had to turn away. Emmett would be coaxing him into telling him now – and he would succeed, he _knew_ it.

And he was right.

"Jas-per," Emmett whispered and it had a weird rhythm to it – it was annoying. "Jas-per ..."

But when his brother didn't give in after a full minute of him singing his name in a whisper, Emmett changed tactics.

"Aww, come on Jazz, be a sport!" he pleaded. "What harm can it do if you tell us? It's not like it would change anything or make it worse."

Jasper only crossed his arms and leaned back, then continued to watch the cars driving by.

_Seriously?_ "Jazz," he said, but Jasper did not answer.

"Jazzman ...," Emmett said with a grin, then added in a high-pitched sing-song voice. "Jazzy-boy ..."

It didn't work.

"Geez, just _spill_ it! I know you want to!" Emmett's voice was bordering on whining now, but the emotions he was emitting were way worse. That huge amount of curiosity, intertwined with frustration and the unwillingness to give up was starting to drive both of them crazy.

"Edward drove the car," Jasper said, rushing through his words.

Emmett's jaw dropped. "No way!" he called in disbelief and nudged Jasper playfully in the side, nearly shoving him off the bench. "There's no way in _hell_ anyone would be that stupid!"

Jasper just scratched his neck and looked at the ground. Maybe he shouldn't have told them ...

"So? Did Mom find out?" These huge, inquiring golden eyes – Jasper really shouldn't have told Emmett. Rose maybe, but not Emmett.

The look Jasper gave him was obviously answer enough, because Emmett suddenly roared with laughter. It took him forever to calm down again, but when he did, the questions continued. "And what else happened today? I had half a mind to go downstairs when I heard Edward stomping around and yelling."

Jasper groaned and closed his eyes while he said, "Emmett, come on. I already told you more than I should."

"Jazz, be fair! You cannot leave us hanging with only half the story. Come on, man, that's just plain cruel," Emmett complained and he probably didn't even notice himself, but his bottom lip was protruding.

His big, sturdy brother looked like a little boy that was begging for candy, and even though Jasper had no clue why, he gave in.

"But don't talk about it in front of Esme," he warned and looked between his two siblings. Rose wasn't as disinterested anymore and was actually looking at him for a brief moment before crossing her legs and then glancing at her watch. But she didn't seem like she wanted to talk to Esme anyways, so Jasper wouldn't have to worry about her. Emmett would be the bigger problem here - sometimes he chose the most inconvenient moments to crack jokes. And since he found Edward being in trouble hysterically funny …

"I won't breathe a word," Emmett promised.

After giving his brother a scrutinising look, Jasper took a deep breath and answered his previous question. "He wanted to drive again, but Esme saw him when he was heading for the garage with the keys in his hand."

"Could he be any more _obvious_? Geez, if you wanna do something behind Mom or Dad's back, you don't do it right in front of them!" Emmett groaned and slapped his forehead with the flat of his hand. It was loud enough for the birds in the nearby tree to get frightened and fly off.

"Oops," he whispered when he saw that and distorted his mouth.

Jasper just shrugged his shoulders at what Emmett had said. He also did not understand why Edward had done it, he was just telling them what had happened downstairs.

"Why did he scratch Pops car?"

"It was an accident, Em, you know that," Jasper replied with a frown.

"Yeah ... but how did it happen?"

"He kinda lost it and ran into the garage, but while he was unlocking his car, Carlisle was already standing next to him. He tried to pull the key out, but Edward was quicker, and then unfortunately it happened," Jasper told him in a more or less monotonous voice. He just wanted his brother to stop asking questions and decided that next time they needed to wait for something, he would choose going shopping with his little Alice.

Emmett let out a laugh and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "I so would have loved to see Dad's face at that moment ... no, Edward's!" Then he thought for a moment. "No, Dad's! Argh, I can't decide!"

While Emmett was having tons of fun imagining the scene in the garage, Rosalie became thoughtful.

What didn't make sense about that story was how she would fit in there. She had nothing to do with Edward behaving that way, so what was Esme's problem?

* * *

Almost an hour later Alice and Esme reached the movie theatre - after they had stuffed their purchases into the trunk of Emmett's car, of course. Thank God the little boutique was indeed little, and even though Alice had asked repeatedly if this was it or if they could bring up the rest of their dresses, shoes and bags because she wanted to have more things to choose from, they still managed to be on time for the movie.

They had not only gotten things for themselves, but also a pretty belt and two bags for Rose, knowing she would absolutely love the colours and the patterns of these accessories.

It smelled of popcorn and nacho cheese when they entered, and the chatter and laughter of people looking forward to watching a new movie filled the air.

Emmett, Jasper and Rose were waiting in the lobby, sitting on a bench off to the side. The boys were talking excitedly and laughing in between, whereas Rosalie sat with her chin upon her hand and looked at a little pamphlet that was lying on her lap.

Esme smiled when she saw her boys having fun like that. It always warmed her heart to see Jasper so carefree in public and not constantly tortured by his fear of draining a human in close proximity of himself. Spending time with Emmett did him a world of good, and she as a mother was glad that the whole family was together again.

Rose picked up the pamphlet and held it in both her hands, and the closer they got to group the more she seemed to focus on reading.

Jasper and Emmett looked up simultaneously, and while Jasper just smiled at seeing them, Emmett called, "Hey Mom!"

He immediately jumped up from the bench and closed the distance between himself and Esme, then buried her in a big bear hug, lifting her up from the ground.

A few people were watching them weirdly, because the way Emmett greeted her was something you'd expect to see at the airport instead of a movie theatre, but Emmett did not care one bit. He got the feeling that Rose wasn't looking forward to spending some more time with their Mom, and the talk later on was also something she didn't really want to happen. He was aware that Esme with her mother instinct would pick it up, and therefore he tried to deflect her attention a little.

Esme laughed for this breezy welcome was so Emmett. "Emmett! Come dear, put me down," she said. "Let me get the tickets, we don't want to miss the beginning of the movie."

"Oh no, Mom," Emmett replied after having set her back down on her feet. "I got 'em already." He pulled five tickets from the back pocket of his jeans and held them up so Esme could see.

"How much do I owe you for these?" she asked and opened her purse to retrieve her wallet.

He placed one of his huge hands over hers, stopping her immediately. "Nothing, Mom. Come on, I don't wanna miss the trailers!" he said quickly, sounding like he was bubbling over with excitement - he seemed like huge male Alice at that moment.

As they had greeted each other, Rose had gotten up from the bench and was now waiting in front of the viewing room for the rest of her family, her arms crossed over her chest while she looked at the movie posters hanging on the walls.

While Alice and Jasper walked over to her, she could hear Alice telling her husband of the incredibly cute dresses and matching accessories she had found at the little shop with Esme. He nodded his head like he was listening, but he couldn't fool anyone.

"- wouldn't you agree?" Alice asked and got up on her tiptoes to gaze into her mate's eyes when they had reached Rosalie.

"Of course, darlin'," he replied and nodded his head.

Alice made a sulky face. "You weren't even listening ... "

"That's because I prefer to see you actually wearing the dresses than just hear you talking about them, love," he replied with a laugh and tipped her nose with his index finger.

In truth he had been thinking about his bet with Emmett. Whoever guessed the number of shot agents right could drive the car back to Forks after the movie was over.

Esme and Emmett stopped right next to them, and after Emmett handed the tickets to the ticket taker, who ripped a piece off and gave them back to him, they entered the viewing room.

Standing just a few seconds in the room, and they had already found the right row where their seats were. Alice walked in first, followed by Esme and Jasper. She sat down in the middle of the row, but Esme who had been right behind her, remained standing and let Jasper pass, so he could sit next to his mate.

Esme sat down in the middle one of their five seats and when Emmett saw that, he quickly stopped Rose, who was looking down at the floor to make sure she wouldn't step into anything nasty. She lifted her head to look at him, and right at that moment Esme did the same.

"I wanna sit next to my Mama!" Emmett called out as though otherwise someone else would steal him that special seat, and then he darted for the vacant one next to Esme. Once his behind met the soft upholstery, he casually put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the cheek before grinning like an idiot.

Rose walked after him and sat down when she reached the seat next to her husband, giving his knee a gentle pat.

"Rose, are you all right over there?" Esme asked when she knew Rose was seated, and she leaned forward a little so she could see past her bulky son and at her blonde daughter.

"Yes," she replied curtly.

"Would you like to switch seats with me, dear? I can -"

"No, I'm fine." Rosalie interrupted her and crossed her legs.

"Oh, all right." Esme nodded her head, then slowly leaned back against the cushioned backrest of her seat. She didn't feel comfortable knowing that Rosalie's distant behaviour came from her scolding in the car. Rosalie was a person who sometimes took a rebuke personal and that would make her draw back. Esme was glad she didn't get angry and was looking for confrontation, but she didn't want her to feel hurt either.

Jasper noticed that Esme focussed on the screen as the lights dimmed, and he slowly started to remove the tension she was feeling without her noticing him doing so. He knew Rose didn't always appreciate him changing her mood even though he had the best intentions at heart, and so he let her be.

* * *

"Ha! I told you so, dude! There was no way in hell you'd be right!" Emmett guffawed and playfully punched his brother in the upper arm as soon as they had left the viewing room.

"All right, all right." Jasper laughed and rubbed the spot where Emmett's fist had connected with his arm, then turned around to look for Alice. Just a _second_ ago she had been standing right next to him, but now she was nowhere to be seen. Letting out a sigh, he then started to weave through the crowd of people in search of his mate. It would be a lot easier if he could move at vampire speed, but since that wasn't possible he had to continue to walk at human pace. Luckily only a minute passed until he caught sight of his little runaway.

"Here you are. Is it safe to return home now, Alice?" he asked when he came to a halt right next to her, watching her walking round a big claw machine, looking at pink, plushy unicorns and other brightly coloured stuffed animals.

"We should drive to the gas station and get some fuel and new fashion magazines," she replied absent-mindedly, never taking her eyes off the toys.

"Good plan, darlin'," he uttered and placed a soft kiss on her temple, then chuckled when she finally forgot about the unicorns and actually smiled at him.

He held his hand out and she grabbed it, then let him lead her to the rest of the family.

"Hey Em," Jasper said. "We need to make a little detour to the gas station."

"I know," he replied and laughed. "there's nearly nothing left in the tank."

They joined the other people filing out of the building, then headed for the parking lot where Emmett had parked the car a few hours ago.

Rose hung back a little, so Emmett took her hand and squeezed it a little while giving her an encouraging smile. She lifted only one corner of her mouth, and when Emmett laughed at her, the other corner of her mouth went up as well.

Emmett went to the driver's door and as soon as he had unlocked the car, everyone got in.

And just like before, Rosalie chose to sit in the back right next to Alice, but this time it wasn't just because she wanted her mother to be comfortable. She knew that if she sat in the front, she would be in Esme's field of vision, and that way Esme might get the idea she could talk to her right now. Rose just wanted to make sure she wouldn't say anything rude to her while she wasn't in the best of moods – it was better for all of them.

The next gas station wasn't far and while Emmett and Jasper got out to fuel the tank, Alice and Rose headed inside to have a look at a few magazines. Not that Rose was really in the mood for it right now, but Alice was so excited and so she just couldn't say No. Besides, she knew that Alice wanted to cheer her up, and she found that to be very sweet of her.

They said hi to the cashier, a pimply teenager with glasses and braces, then walked off to the side where the magazines were.

The fashion magazines they had been looking for were underneath the window, and while they stood there they could still see and hear their mates joking around and trying to replay scenes from the movie, showing each other which ones they liked best.

"... Rose?"

"Hm?" she asked and turned toward her little sister, blinking her eyes a few times. She had been a little distracted it seemed – distracted enough that she hadn't noticed that she was smiling or that Alice was talking to her.

"What about this one?" Alice asked again.

"Oh, I got that one yesterday, you don't need to buy it. You can have mine when we get home."

"Oh, okay," she said and put the magazine back, then reached for another one.

A few minutes later Emmett came inside to pay, but instead of walking up to the counter, he went over to Rose, looked over her shoulder and immediately rolled his eyes. "Way too many clothes, babe."

When she leaned against his chest and sighed, she could feel him placing a kiss on the crown of her head then his hand rubbing her upper arm.

She looked up at him and nodded her head like she wanted to tell him that she was all right, then she closed the magazine and put it back where she had taken it from.

"Okay ladies, are you done looking around? Which ones do you want?" he asked while fishing his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans.

"Don't be in such a rush! Give us a few more minutes," Alice replied and scowled up at him.

He held his hands up in a placating manner, then walked over to the counter and paid for the gas. Seeing that the girls still weren't done picking out silly magazines when he turned back around after he was done, he left the gas station again to wait in the car with Jasper and Esme.

Rose drifted over to the car magazines, as they seemed a little more interesting to her at the moment, when suddenly Esme entered. She put her cell phone back into her purse, then looked up and said, "Let's go home, girls. Did you find anything you like?"

Alice held a magazine up with both her hands, then continued browsing through it. "We're not done yet, Mom."

"Come on, we need to go home now." Now that she had received a call from Carlisle, telling her that it was safe for them to come back home, she wanted to get there as soon as possible. She knew that Edward needed her now, and that's why she couldn't waste any time.

"Mom," Alice whined.

"Honey, you can look at them in the car or at home. Which ones would you like?" she asked and walked over to her dark-haired daughter, then took the magazine from her hands. Alice pointed at three more, and Esme picked them up before turning towards Rosalie.

"Rose?"

"Give me a moment," Rosalie replied while scanning the index of a magazine she was holding in her hands.

Esme shook her head. "We need to leave now."

"I'm not done yet. Give me a moment." Rose said again.

Esme grew nervous as her thoughts drifted back to her boy at home who was no doubt waiting for her, and when she saw Alice reaching for another magazine to thumb through, she had to speak with finality in her voice to make the girls comply. "No, we're going home now. Did you find anything?"

_Gosh, was she that eager to lecture her that they couldn't even spend five minutes looking at magazines?_

Rose snapped the magazine shut and stuffed it together with the two other ones she had been holding back onto the rack. "No," she answered brusquely, then stepped past her mother and left the store.

* * *

**This thing nearly doubled in size because Emmett was just so damn curious, Alice wanted to look at unicorns and Esme was waiting for a phone call. I'm tired now.  
**

**Please review!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello and thank you for reviewing, guys! I'm always happy when people read and review my stories ;-)**

* * *

Rose stalked from the store right after Esme had insisted they would go home now, and all the way to the car her jaw was clenched and her eyes narrowed.

She should have seen it coming, she thought … now that they were allowed to come back home Esme didn't want to waste any time to yell at her for saying something about Edward. It was so ridiculous that it annoyed her.

Rose walked around the big, red Jeep to the driver's side, then leaned against the side of the trunk with her back, her arms crossed over her chest while she took a few breaths that were supposed to calm her.

Seeing that she didn't get in, Emmett rolled down his window and stuck his head out to look at her, a little frown was already creasing his forehead as he felt that something was off. "What's wrong, babe?" he asked.

She glared at the ground and shook her head in response – she wouldn't have said anything now anyways as Alice was already skipping towards them, followed by Esme.

Alice gave her sister a small, empathetic smile when she stood in front of her, then opened the rear passenger door. "Come, Rose," she said softly and climbed inside, then scooted over to settle into the middle seat right next to Jasper.

Pushing away from the trunk, Rosalie took a step, then got into the seat next to Alice and right behind the driver's seat.

She shut the door, using a little more force than intended, then buckled up and just hoped she could spend this car ride without having to say anything. Whenever she was in a bad mood she didn't speak, hoping people would notice and thus leave her alone, because otherwise she might snap at them without actually meaning to. So remaining silent right now seemed like a good idea, especially since they had an hour-long car ride until home and she didn't have the chance of secluding herself in case an argument would break out.

The front passenger door opened and Esme got in. She was holding a bunch of magazines in her hand that she had bought for Alice, and she passed them over her shoulder to her dark-haired daughter while shutting the door. "Here Alice, and please share with Rose," she said and fastened her seatbelt so they could finally leave the gas station and head home.

"Thanks, Mom. I will," Alice nodded her head, then held the magazines out for Rosalie to choose from.

Without even looking at them Rose just shook her head, then put her elbow on the edge of the car door and leaned her cheek upon her hand. She preferred to gaze out of the window at the passing buildings and cars instead of flipping through a magazine, because she felt it would more likely be able to help her rid her mind of all the stressful and negative thoughts. She didn't enjoy feeling so tense and disgruntled and she wanted to make use of the car ride to try to breath the emotions out of her before they would reach home and Esme would give her a telling-off for not speaking highly of Edward.

She let out a silent sigh when she heard a clicking sound and then suddenly music filled the vehicle. Emmett, her sweet husband, had put on some music to make sure there would be less talking and more … well, listening to music for the ride home.

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and sang along like he was all alone in the car. It was a good thing though, he was drawing attention to himself and therefore Rosalie could relax as she knew no one would notice her when her husband was so loud and entertaining.

"Mom, sing along!" Emmett called every ten seconds and grinned at Esme, but she just patted his hand that was resting on the gear shift and told him she didn't know that song.

"Okay … can you beatbox?"

"What's that, baby?" she asked. She wasn't familiar with that term or all the modern music her children were so fond of, so all she could to was blink her eyes and wait for him to explain.

So he showed her.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, Emmy, I can't do that."

"I'll teach you!" he called excitedly and grinned at her, only to have Esme reach out to steady the steering wheel.

"Keep your eyes on the road, Emmett, please." she half-scolded, half-pleaded and turned the volume of the music down a bit. Emmett got a little distracted and had swayed to the right, getting dangerously close to the trees lining the road.

"Whoopsie daisy," he muttered and cleared his throat, then focussed back on the street to get his family home without glass or splinters of wood between their teeth.

The drive was quicker this time as it was late and there wasn't much traffic at this time of the day. Besides, Esme didn't seem to notice that Emmett wasn't exactly obeying the speed limit anymore. She seemed to worry about something - something that made her nervous and jittery. She kept checking her watch and cell phone, then looked out of the window to see how close they were to home, then she brushed invisible lint off her blouse, then she smoothed out non-existent wrinkles from her skirt. All these little actions were obviously supposed to keep her hands busy and give her something to do so she wouldn't worry even more, but it also made it quite obvious to her children that something wasn't right.

"Are you all right, Esme?" Jasper asked over the music, his face tense as he had to endure his mother's nervousness like it was his own.

Turning her head to look at him over her shoulder, Esme said, "Of course I am, dear." She tried to sound assuring, but failed miserably.

"Are you sure you're okay, Mom?" Emmett questioned and glanced at her while she looked at her wristwatch for the umpteenth time it seemed.

"Yes, baby, of course," she replied and gave him a little, nervous smile.

Oh, she was probably concerned about little Eddie, Emmett figured. "Aww, Mom, he's all right, stop worrying so much!" He laughed a little, hoping he could calm her mind. He had been in Eddie's position before … once or twice … so he knew what he was talking about.

"I know, dear."

Emmett was silent for a moment, then said with a shrug of his shoulder, "Dad just whupped his ass, no big deal."

"Emmett, enough. I told you before that I don't want to hear you speaking about this matter as it does not concern you."

He obviously did not hear Esme reprimanding him, because he just continued his little speech that was supposed to calm his Mom's nerves. Seemingly remembering something, he added, "I mean, _okay_, he really screwed up, but what's the worst that's gonna happen now, huh? Is Dad gonna sell that -"

Esme's eyes widened at what her son was saying, but before she could even open her mouth, Alice and Jasper were already intervening.

An excited squeal emerged from Alice's lips, effectively drowning out what Emmett was saying, before she exclaimed, "Look at these boots, Mom!" and she held a fashion magazine directly in front of Esme's nose.

At the same time Jasper called, "I love that song! Care to turn the volume up, Em?"

"Sure thing, bro!" he replied and fumbled with the stereo. Oops, he had promised to be careful about this matter around Esme …

Luckily they were almost home as the unpaved road that led to their house was only a mile away. Esme would be busy coddling Edward or spend time with Carlisle until tomorrow, so he wouldn't run the risk of accidentally give away that he knew what Edward had done.

Apparently Esme thought her son had just tried to find out what had happened at home, because she didn't question him or say anything else anymore. Now she just seemed to be getting nervous and impatient again.

"Do you need any help, Esme?" Jasper asked and placed a hand on her shoulder as he was sitting right behind her. He really wanted to send her a few waves of calmness to take some of her nervousness away, but as these few would have to be ginormous, he preferred to ask her first. There was no way she wouldn't notice his influence, and just like his family didn't appreciate Edward invading their minds, they also didn't want him to change their emotional states to one he would prefer.

"No, dear, I'm fine," she replied and patted his hand, then continued to stare at the road ahead, still as nervous as before.

Emmett slowed down when they were reaching the house and as they waited for the garage door to open, it was apparent that Esme was now feeling relieved to be home. Still worried and nervous, but also relieved.

Rosalie however didn't look like she was sharing that emotion with her mother. Her face was unreadable, but it was pretty obvious that she didn't look forward to the impeding talk, but wanted to get it over with. It would be the last thing today she had to endure until she could finally spend what was left of the day with her husband. She longed for the privacy of their room and his presence so she could forget about this day and start the next one without feeling stressed or harassed.

The door was up, and Emmett chased his car into the garage. Before the Jeep was in its usual spot he abruptly hit the brakes, making the tires screech in protest as the car skidded to a halt right where Emmett wanted it to. He was proud of himself, the dimpled grin on his face was proof of that.

After everyone got thrown forward and then hit the backrest of their seats again, Emmett pulled the key out of the ignition and hesitantly looked sideways as he realised that his mother was sitting next to him and normally didn't approve of his preferred method of parking his car. And just like he had expected, Esme was giving him a stern look.

"Emmett, how often do I have to tell you, hm? Treat your car more carefully or you'll break it. And I hope you didn't leave any tire marks on the floor, it isn't sealed yet," she told him, knowing that he sometimes had a little trouble handling his strength or curb his enthusiasm. But he hadn't done that in a while now, so she had no clue why he would start again.

He gave her a sheepish look, and she patted his cheek before they unfastened their seatbelts and got out of the car.

The first thing Esme did was go to the trunk of the Jeep, not just to retrieve the numerous bags full of clothes, but also to check the floor of the garage for tire marks.

"I'll take my purse upstairs," Rosalie informed her mother as she was standing so close to her now. She hadn't spoken a word during the drive, and she felt that it had been the best she could have done as she felt much better now.

"Sure dear, go ahead," Esme replied while eyeing the floor.

Frowning at the fact that her mother hadn't even looked at her, Rosalie then shut the car door and marched out of the garage, heading for her room.

"Emmett." was all Esme said and she did not sound happy.

He walked up to her and then saw what she was looking at. "Shoot," he mumbled while kneeling down to examine the black skidmarks on the cement floor. He let his fingers run across one of them, then straightened up again and shrugged. Looking to the side he noticed his mother looking up at him expectantly and he suddenly smiled. "Now it's officially my spot."

Then he reached into the open trunk and grabbed a few bags just like Jasper was doing, so they could carry them inside for the girls. Not that they couldn't carry them themselves, but Jasper and Emmett were gentlemen and therefore wanted to take care of it for them.

"You will clean that up, Emmy."

"But it's a garage, Mom! It has to look like that!" he tried to argue.

"I'll give you Krud Kutter and a brush and then you can set to work, baby," she replied, then walked up the few steps and into the kitchen.

Esme bent down and opened the cabinet under the sink where she knew she had the things Emmett would need to clean the floor. She found them immediately and placed them on the countertop, then closed the door of the cabinet again.

Emmett and Jasper entered and put the bags on the counter, and while Jasper walked into the living room to see what his wife was up to, Emmett remained standing in the kitchen. Esme just pointed at the cleaning supplies when Emmett looked at her, and she nodded her head while he groaned.

"Right now, Em."

He walked over to her and grabbed the things without much enthusiasm, and Esme rubbed his back softly. "You'll find a wire brush in the closet in the garage, just in case it doesn't work with that one."

Alice had left the garage even before Rose had and she was lying on the couch now as she deemed it the perfect spot for going through her magazines. Jasper looked at her over the backrest of the couch, then gave her a kiss before turning around again. "I'll keep Emmett company, dear." he said while walking over to his pouting brother, who stood in the kitchen with slumped shoulders holding cleaning supplies in his hands.

And Esme headed for the stairs so she could finally find her baby boy and enfold him in her arms.

* * *

Rose placed her purse on the bed in her and Emmett's room, then turned around to go downstairs to get lectured. She wasn't even sure what exactly she was feeling at the moment, but she knew it wasn't excitement. Being able to sleep to get her mind off things would be a blessing, she thought, while stepping out of the room and closing the door behind herself. Hopefully it would only take a few minutes and then she could finally spend some time with Em.

As she descended the stairs, she could see that Esme was just about to put her foot on the first step, and so she picked up her pace.

Coming to a halt right next to the newel post before Esme could start to climb the stairs, Rosalie turned and raised her eyebrows when Esme looked at her.

"Yes?" Esme asked as the expectant look on her daughter's face told her that she was waiting for something.

"You wished to talk to me," Rose stated.

"Yes, Rosalie, but I really need to check on Edward first," she said and went upstairs, leaving Rose standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Esme."

Esme stopped and turned around to look at her blond daughter. "Yes, dear?" she queried, sounding slightly exasperated.

"You said you wanted to talk to me as soon as we get home," Rosalie pointed out and looked at her mother quizzically.

Esme sighed. She was anxious to end the uncertainty of her son's current condition and that's why she couldn't talk to Rosalie now. Her son was waiting in his room and seeing him right now had top priority for her.

"Rosalie, please understand, I would like to see your brother now."

Rosalie took a deep breath, then averted her eyes. "Yes, I understand," she replied, then turned around and walked in the direction of the kitchen.

So Esme hadn't shooed them out of the shop because she wanted to get home and get the talk over with. No, all she had wanted was to get home to coddle Edward. Edward, who got himself in trouble because he had felt the need to act like a selfish idiot. But, of course, Esme would treat him like he was an innocent victim.

The boy was now ruining the rest of Rose's night and put it further on hold, because now she had to wait until Esme would return from his room – and Edward was a little Momma's boy, so he wouldn't let her go anytime soon.

Rose could understand that - as a mother - Esme wanted to make sure her kids were well, but it was apparent that some of them were more important to her than others. That was okay for Rose, but in the current situation it felt disrespectful and unfair. She had hoped they could get this stupid talk over with and actually expected it to be as soon as they came home just like Esme had announced. She had a few things to say in her defence in case Esme blamed her for Edward being a jerk, but no, Esme didn't care about anyone but Edward right now.

"Rose!" Alice called and peeked at her sister over the backrest of the couch in the living room.

Rosalie shook her head lightly as she had been absorbed in thought, then walked towards Alice and gave her a questioning look while running her fingers through her long, blond hair. "Alice?"

"Come." Alice jumped up from the couch and skipped into the kitchen while grinning over her shoulder at Rose.

The boys had placed the shopping bags onto the counter and were now back in the garage, Rosalie noticed, because she could hear their muffled voices through the closed door.

Alice attacked the first bag she saw, then pushed it to the side and rummaged through a different one.

Suddenly her face lit up and she lifted the bag up from the counter and handed it to her sister. "That's for you!" she exclaimed and her eyes shone with delight, because she already knew Rosalie would love the things they had picked out for her.

"For me?"

"Yes!" Alice replied and bounced up and down, then snatched the bag from Rose's hand and opened it, revealing what they bought. "Look, isn't this the cutest little clutch you have ever seen? It would look perfect with your new dress, you know, the dark blue one."

Then she pulled the belt out. It was a thin white leather belt with an ornamented silver buckle.

"Perfect for your new jeans!"

And then Alice reached deep into the paper bag and pulled a large leather handbag out. "School," she said and shrugged her shoulders.

Rose was stunned when Alice gave her the bag again. She cleared her throat and looked at her cheerful sister. "They are beautiful."

"I know, right?" Alice said and smiled broadly. "Next time you have to come with us when we go to that boutique. They have amazing things, even though the shop is incredibly small ..."

"I'd love to, Alice. And thank you," Rose said and suddenly smiled. Alice was just too sweet and her ability to cheer people up seemed to be her second talent.

"You're welcome. Maybe you should check if I was indeed right with the belt and the little clutch, but I am almost a thousand percent sure that I am."

Rose gave Alice's hand a squeeze to thank her again, then stepped past her and headed for the stairs. She had nothing to do but wait, so why not take her new things up to her room?

She reached the first landing quickly and had already opened the door to her room when she suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking sideways she detected Carlisle and Esme standing in front of their room. He was brushing the knuckles of his right hand lightly over her cheek while she was talking to him with a frown on her face.

Rose just placed the bag next to the door in her and Emmett's room, then wanted to go back downstairs and join Alice in the living room when she noticed that it had become quiet. Her parents must have noticed her presence and as she turned her head they were indeed looking at her.

Rosalie closed the door to her room with a soft click and said, "I'm sorry, I did not mean to disrupt."

Carlisle gave her a little smile. "Hello, dear, you're not disrupting. How was the movie?"

"It was good," she said warily. As she saw both her parents just standing there and looking at her, she got the feeling that the time had come. She really wasn't in the mood for this, but she wanted to get it over with now so she could finally enjoy the rest of this day alone with Emmett. "Do we talk now?"

"Rosalie, I told you I wanted to check on Edward first," Esme replied with a sigh.

"Yes." Rose nodded her head. "So do we talk now?"

"No, not now, Rosalie. I haven't been upstairs yet."

Now that was weird. Esme had said she wanted to see Edward immediately and that's why they couldn't get the talk over with, but now she was standing here in the hallway with Carlisle.

"Oh."

"It might take a while. Please be patient," Esme told her.

Rosalie nodded and started to walk down the hallway in the direction of the stairs, but then she suddenly stopped and turned back around to face them. "Why can't he be patient?"

"Rosalie." Esme said and shook her head in a chiding way.

"What, do you think he'll run away?" Rose asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She had spent the last hours away from home and now that they were finally here she still couldn't relax as she had to wait yet another hour or so for a two-minute lecture – a two-minute lecture for speaking the truth, mind you. But what irked Rosalie most was that Edward would want Esme to cuddle him for hours, and she would do so. Shouldn't she realise that it would make more sense to take care of this here first? Especially since she had said she wanted to talk to her as soon as they would arrive home?

Suddenly Esme's eyes widened and she gasped. "Have you been eavesdropping?"

_What?_ "What are you talking about?" Rosalie queried, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Rosalie, have you been eavesdropping?" Esme asked again, her hands resting on her hips now.

"Esme, no," Carlisle said and rubbed her upper arm in order to calm her. "Rose just came upstairs and we were talking here in the middle of the hallway instead of seeking the privacy of our room or my study. We can only blame ourselves if anyone overhears our conversation."

Esme was obviously still tense, and that feeling wouldn't go away until she could see Edward and make sure that he was all right.

"I didn't eavesdrop on you. I just came upstairs to bring the bag to my room. Is that a crime now?" Rosalie was struggling to keep her voice polite after her mother had just accused her of something she wouldn't do.

"No, sweetheart, your mother didn't mean to accuse you of anything. Isn't that right, love?"

"Of course I didn't mean to accuse you. I'm sorry Rosalie," Esme said and brushed a lock of her brown hair out of her eyes.

Rosalie raised one eyebrow and eyed her mother for a moment. "I'll be downstairs," she said and walked towards the stairs.

* * *

**Yup, Emmett is still convinced that this is his story ... but he's in the garage now and I am planning on leaving him in there for a while so we will hopefully get a little more Rosalie to read about. The next chapter will be the talk between the parents and Rose, and guess who's not gonna be happy about the outcome ...**

**Please leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Rose slumped down next to Alice and grabbed a magazine from the coffee table to keep herself occupied. She started flipping through it without much enthusiasm, barely paying any attention to what she was reading or looking at, until she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Alice was staring at her.

"Hm?" she asked and lowered the open magazine to her lap while facing her petite sister.

"I'm sorry your day turned out like this," Alice said and gave her a sympathetic look.

"Yes, me too," she replied and patted Alice's arm, then sighed and looked back down at the magazine. "At least I have tomorrow to look forward to," she added and shrugged her shoulders a little. Yes, tomorrow would be a wonderful day again, at least she hoped so.

"Erm ..."

Her head shot back up and she looked at Alice with wide eyes. "What? What's going to happen?" Great … did that mean that Esme was not just going to lecture her but ground her as well?

"We will spend a few hours in Port Angeles again, just so that you won't make any plans and get disappointed."

Rose was glad to hear that she wasn't the one who was supposed to stay at home and that this time she knew beforehand what the next day would be like. She looked relieved and grateful for this information and let out a breath she had been holding. "Thanks for telling me," she replied and gave her a little smile.

Alice nodded her head and grinned, but then didn't know what to say or do now. She knew Rose was annoyed and apprehensive, and talking about Esme or Edward wouldn't distract her to help her unwind, just make it worse. But luckily, it took her only a moment to figure it out.

"Wait here, I'll show you what I got today," Alice grinned and jumped off the couch, then skipped into the kitchen.

Rose could hear her snatch the numerous bags from the counter, then dart back into the living room and dump them on the coffee table right in front of them.

Going through her purchases and explaining exactly why she had bought this dress and that belt, Alice did her best to entertain Rose while she had to wait until Esme would come out of Edward's room again.

They had fun, but when Alice's eyes suddenly glazed over and she fell silent, Rose knew that their fun time was almost up.

And indeed, Alice blinked her eyes and looked up at her while distorting her mouth a little, then wished her luck and called for Jasper.

Jasper came in from the garage and together they ascended the stairs to grant their parents and Rose some privacy for their discussion.

With a sigh, Rosalie leaned back on the couch after having watched her siblings leave, then she crossed her legs and folded her hands, letting them rest on her knee while she waited for Esme to finally have the grace to detach herself from Edward.

It didn't take long until she heard two pairs of feet descending the stairs and coming to a halt in the foyer.

"Rosalie?"

"In here," Rose replied. She glanced at the grandfather clock standing in one corner of the room and saw that what her mother described as 'as soon as they would come home' was actually a timeframe of a little more than an hour.

_No wonder there had been that little 'misunderstanding', because I thought 'as soon as we get back home' would mean as soon as we get back home. Ha, my bad._

Carlisle and Esme entered the living room after she told them where she was, and they stopped in the middle of the room.

"Rosalie, we need to talk," Esme said and fixed her daughter with a look.

"I figured as much," was Rosalie's immediate reply. Esme had told her that she wanted to talk and Rose had been waiting far too long already. So yes, she was completely aware of the fact that Esme wanted to talk.

"I cannot tolerate teasing, especially when I have told you again to stop it just a few days ago. You disobeyed me," Esme stated while approaching her.

"Excuse me?" Rosalie asked, almost lazily. She could have snorted as she realised that Edward must have seized the chance to cry and sob like a little toddler for the last hour in front of Esme to show her just what a mean person she was. That's why she had a little trouble taking this talk seriously, to be honest. Yes, the apprehension from before had vanished, because this was nothing but a farce.

Esme sat down next to Rose and shifted a little so she could look er in the eye. "Why do we have to have this talk again and again, hm?" Esme asked in her usual soft voice, but her eyes showed that she was displeased.

Rose just looked at her, but did not say a word. Why? Because Esme was definitely not finished yet and so she didn't bother to say anything in return. And judging by the gradually increasing annoyance and urge to laugh at this ridiculousness, it was wise to keep her mouth shut and just wait until she would be free to leave.

"Please help me understand - you are both miserable because of it," Esme said and sighed. "Is it really necessary for your father and I to step in and show you that your behaviour is disrespectful? Do we need to remind you like a little child that you are hurting Edward with your words?"

Rosalie swallowed heavily and hung her head to gaze at her folded hands. If she would continue to look her mother in the eye while she chided her, she might run the risk of rolling her eyes or smirking, and that wouldn't be beneficial. No, Esme was dead certain that she was tormenting her precious Edward mercilessly, and acting like she didn't care or found these accusations laughable would only result in a longer talk and unpleasant consequences. She wanted Alice's vision to be true and spend the next day in Port Angeles to do as she pleased instead of sitting alone in her room.

Esme watched her daughter looking at her hands, averting her gaze. She wasn't sure if Rosalie was contrite or just ignoring them and waiting for the talk to be over. It was just so tiring that they were having the same situation every time they moved. Rosalie and Edward always found something to tease each other with until it got out of hand. This time Edward hadn't been able to endure it any longer as his sister's words had hurt him deeply and made him act out in a desperate attempt to get some space between himself and his sister. He did earn the punishment he received a few hours prior to this discussion, but Esme still couldn't help but feel sorry for her baby boy and the way he suffered due to the awful pain in his heart.

"Rosalie, please look at me when I am speaking to you," Esme suddenly chided, but she kept her voice calm. "I want you to explain yourself."

Rosalie suppressed a groan while she lifted her head and looked at her mother sitting next to her. "We have our differences," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I can see that, dear, but don't you think it's time to reconcile these differences and start respecting each other like the young adults I know you can be?"

"I do think it's time for that," Rose said and gave her mother a sweet smile.

"You do think it's time but won't actually follow through with this plan, am I right?" Esme said while crossing her arms over her chest.

She knew her children quite well, and knew that they were very articulate when they sensed trouble heading their way.

"That is not what I said."

"I told you before to stop this childish behaviour. I told you countless times over the duration of years, but yet again we sit here and discuss teasing and disrespect. To be frank with you, I am quite tired of repeating myself." The last sentence was spoken in a harsher tone.

"And I am quite tired of having to listen to you repeating yourself." That comment earned Rosalie a strict look – from both her parents.

Carlisle had seated himself in an armchair as Esme was trying to discuss this matter with their blond daughter, but he noticed that Rosalie wasn't too compliant. He couldn't blame her – nobody liked being chided. Besides, it sounded like Esme was only taking Edward's feelings into consideration and didn't pay any mind to the possibility that their son could be quite deceitful and ill-mannered as well. "Rosalie," he said – it would be enough to remind her who she was speaking to. He could understand her unwillingness, but that didn't mean she could be disrespectful.

Rosalie cleared her throat after glancing at her father, then looked back into Esme's eyes. "I'm sorry."

Esme nodded her head and patted Rosalie's hand, then continued. "What would you suggest we do now? How can we help you and Edward to finally realise that you are family and should respect each other?"

Rosalie looked at her without blinking and one of her eyebrows went up as she tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't be considered rude or childish. She wanted to say that they could sew Edward's mouth shut or Esme could stop indulging him for at least once in a while … be she was sure Esme wouldn't appreciate any of these suggestions. That woman was suffering from tunnel vision when it came to Edward.

"I would have expected more from you, Rosalie," Esme said after giving her daughter a minute to come up with a suggestion of how they could settle this dispute and restore peace in their home and family. But Rose had remained silent. "So it's punishments again, as it seems to be the only thing that makes an impression on you."

Now Rosalie snorted. "Punishments? For what? Have you ever stopped to think that maybe Edward is asking for it?"

"I really doubt he is asking to get teased by you, Rosalie," Esme replied and shook her head lightly.

"You are making a mountain out of a molehill, Esme." Rose countered and tucked a golden lock behind her ear while looking away.

Seeing that they were probably getting nowhere with this talk and soon it would definitely get out of hand between their two squabblers, Carlisle decided to bring up a certain situation, hoping Rosalie would be able to explain if it was true or just another one of Edward's attempts to get out of trouble today.

"Rosalie," Carlisle said and looked at her. "Edward told me that you bought a booster seat for him and put it in your car, then told him it was where he was supposed to sit from now on. Is that true?"

Before Rosalie could even say anything, Esme gasped and stood up, then stepped in front of her daughter and placed her hands on her hips. "You did _what_?"

Rosalie ignored her mother standing before her and said to Carlisle, "No, it's not."

Since Esme had been upstairs with Edward until not even five minutes ago, she knew how miserable the poor boy had been. His sister's teasing had gotten to him, and so she had her doubts about the honesty behind Rose's words. "Rosalie, did you buy a booster seat?"

"Yes."

"And did you tell him it was his seat from now on?" Esme asked with raised eyebrows, giving her daughter a scrutinising look that would hopefully make it impossible for Rosalie to lie.

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Yes."

Now that made Esme's gaze harden. "So it is true. I cannot believe that you would go that far with your teasing. This is easily bordering on bullying, Rosalie. You make fun of him because he agreed to start out as fifteen even though it isn't your business. In fact, it is helping all of us to stay here as long as possible, so why would you do that?"

Rose crossed her arms over her chest and looked in the other direction, away from Esme.

"I do expect you to answer me, Rosalie. You are teasing him all the time ... do you even have the slightest idea what that is doing to him?"

Esme could see that Rosalie narrowed her eyes, but still did not look at her or say anything.

"Where is that coming from?" Esme continued, watching her daughter through narrowed eyes. "He hasn't done anything to you, but you continue with this horrible behaviour."

Rosalie whipped her head around and fixed her mother with a glare. "He hasn't done anything?"

"You have never told me about him teasing you, but he tells me what you are doing to him day in day out. So I assumed that it's just him on the receiving end," Esme tried to explain her assumption.

"Just because I don't come tattling to you like a little child you assume that Edward is innocent in all this?" Rosalie gasped and shook her head in disbelief while staring at the edge of the wooden coffee table in front of her. "Your logic is infallible, mother."

"Rose, that was uncalled for," Carlisle admonished, his voice soft but authoritative. Rose had said the word 'mother' with a hint of scornfulness that he hoped Esme hadn't noticed - the impudent remark was provocative enough.

Rosalie took a long, calming breath, then nodded her head. "I apologise."

There was something defiant in her eyes, Carlisle could see that, so he got up from the armchair, only to take a few steps and sit down on the couch next to his daughter. He gave her delicate shoulder a gentle rub, then said, "Please just tell us what happened so we can help you make peace."

"But Carlisle, you heard her!" Rose countered and looked at him with wide eyes. "It's just me, Edward didn't do anything."

"Now that is something that I find hard to believe, sweetheart," Carlisle told her and hoped she would open up, but she dropped her gaze.

"Carlisle, we are getting nowhere with this," Esme said with a sigh after Rosalie had remained silent and refused to speak once more. So they would do what they always did – punish the children as it was the only thing that seemed to work. Then she remembered what Carlisle had told her right before she went upstairs to comfort her Edward. "And I think we should get Emmett here, too. As far as I know he participates -"

"Emmett didn't do anything, Edward is just being a big baby!" Rose spoke up, interrupting her mother in mid-sentence. She didn't like how her husband got pulled into this just because Edward was miserable and wanted everyone else to suffer with him. What a spiteful, little bastard he was.

Unfortunately her dear husband always chose the most inconvenient times to show up or say something … and this was one of these times.

A rumbling sound from the garage and the sound of the door being pushed open distracted them and they looked in the direction of the kitchen as Emmett barged in with a huge grin on his face.

He scratched his nose, utterly proud of himself for whatever reason, but then his jaw dropped as he realised that his parents and Rose were having a discussion in the living room. "Oops," he mumbled and turned around, then tip-toed back into the garage to wait until they would be finished and it would be safe to enter the house again.

"Emmett?" Esme called and took a few steps in the direction of the kitchen.

They heard his footsteps heading up the few steps again and then the kitchen door opened and closed. Emmett walked into the living room and he looked at his parents with curious eyes. "Whazzup?" he asked innocently.

Rose shook her head and almost chuckled – he was just too cute. He really thought they hadn't noticed him come inside a few seconds ago ...

"Please take a seat and let us talk, dear," Esme said and motioned with her hand to the vacant seat next to Rosalie.

He nodded, then slumped down next to his wife and patted her knee as she didn't look too happy with the current situation.

Esme let him settle down, then began. "Emmett, like I have told you before - _what's that?_" She suddenly asked and squinted at a little stain on his jeans, right underneath his knee, and took a step toward him.

"Huh?" he asked and looked at his mother, then at his jeans and back up at her.

Esme took another step until she reached him, then bent down to take a closer look at the spot on his jeans. "Is that ... paint?"

He quickly made to cover it with his hand, but Esme grabbed his wrist and lifted his arm up, because on the cuff of his hoodie was another stain.

"Um …" was the brightest answer he could come up with.

Esme straightened up again without letting go of him and sighed. "What did you do in the garage, Em?" she asked with a frown. Her maternal instinct kicked in – or maybe it was just the fact that she knew her burly son quite well – and she looked back at the stain with suspicion visible in her eyes.

Standing so close to him, she could smell that it was paint on his clothes. Grey paint.

"I made those skid marks disappear, just like you wanted me to," he replied and gave her an innocent smile.

"And the paint?" she asked while eyeing his cuff once more.

He noticed and when she let go of him, he made to smear the grey paint off. He chose the couch ... which wasn't awfully clever.

Esme's hand shot out again and seized him by the wrist, then she said fiercely, "Don't you dare smear grey paint onto my white couch, Emmett Cullen!"

"Sorry, Mom ... ," he whispered with a sheepish look on his face, realising what a bad idea that would have been.

"Now, why did you feel the need to stain the couch? Where is the paint coming from?"

"The garage."

"I know that I have put grey paint into the closet, Emmett. It's meant for the little table standing in the basement. What did you do with it?" she asked.

"Well, um …"

Seeing that he was trying to beat around the bush, Esme stalked from the room and into the garage.

Rose and Carlisle looked at him questioningly, but all he did was lift his shoulders apologetically.

They heard Esme gasp a moment later, and then she came back into the living room at a brisk pace.

"Emmett!" she called.

"You won't even notice it once it's dried, Mom! I'm sure it'll work!" he said quickly, hoping she would realise that it had been a great idea.

"_You painted the floor!_" Esme called.

Rosalie's eyes widened and she gaped at her husband.

"Come on, Mom! What was I to do? I scrubbed and scrubbed, but that stuff you gave me isn't as good as you think it is and the brushes are crap!" The moment he had started scrubbing, the bristles were already bent. He had used both brushes at the same time, and only after he threw them into a corner in frustration, Jasper laughed and told him that he should have used them a little more gently.

"You need to let the cleaner sit for a while! Oh Emmett …," she covered her mouth with one of her hands while shaking her head.

"Well, I let it sit for some time … that was at least a minute … or even two! You can ask Jasper!" he told her with a hint of desperation. He had done like she asked, he hadn't planned to upset her.

"Love," Carlisle said and placed a hand on Esme's forearm. "Let us come back to our original talk, Emmett will clean the garage tomorrow." He noticed how Rosalie shifted in her seat and smoothed her hair back over her shoulder – she was getting tired of sitting here and he could understand. Whatever happened in the garage had nothing to do with her, and the way she had looked at them in the hallway before showed him that she had just wanted to get this talk over with so she could get some time to herself and relax.

"Yes, he will," she replied, then closed her eyes for a brief moment. "But why would you drive your car back into the garage when there is wet paint on the floor, Emmett?"

"Esme, tomorrow," Carlisle said soothingly.

Esme nodded her head in response, then turned her attention back to both her children sitting on the couch in front of her.

"Emmett, is it true that you are teasing Edward?"

"Aww Mom," Emmett laughed. "that isn't teasing, we are just having a little fun."

"Did you notice that it_ isn't_ fun for Edward? That he is suffering?"

"What? No, it's all good fun. We're siblings, that's what siblings do," he said and cracked a smile, then leaned back on the couch.

Esme's gaze hardened and her voice got stricter. "Emmett, I have talked to you before about the way you treat him. It-"

"Geez. Come Emmett, let's go upstairs," Rosalie suddenly said through clenched teeth and stood up from the couch.

Esme's jaw dropped. "Rosalie, sit back down this instant! I am not done talking to you."

"But we have heard enough! This is ridiculous and I am sick of it!"

"_Rosalie!_" Esme called.

Rose glared at her mother and she didn't look like she wanted to obey her anytime soon.

"Rosalie, sit down," Carlisle said strictly, but he didn't sound aggressive or angry. He felt spent after this evening with Edward and all the defiance he had to endure on this day. But he knew Rosalie wasn't going to be difficult once he told her to behave so there was no need to raise his voice.

He watched his daughter hung her head then take a step backwards and slowly sit back down on the couch next to Emmett.

"That won't happen again, Rosalie," he said in a no-nonsense tone of voice, making her look up at him.

"No, sir."

Then Carlisle sat down on the armrest next to Rose and looked at Esme who had seized that short moment to calm herself a little.

"I don't care if you say your teasing is only playful or that it isn't meant to be hurtful. It is hurting Edward and you will stop this," Esme chided them.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't realise it was seriously hurting Eddie's feelings," Emmett said and stopped smirking immediately after his mother didn't seem to find anything amusing about his words.

"Does Edward tease you?"

Emmett's forehead creased while he thought about that. He had to admit that he didn't feel that whatever Edward said to him could be considered teasing as it didn't bother him. He wouldn't get mad or feel hurt – it was just meant to be fun. "No, Ma'am."

Rosalie huffed as she could see in Esme's eyes that she was convinced her baby boy was innocent but everyone was being mean to him. While she folded her arms, Carlisle placed a hand on her shoulder to remind her to be respectful and listen.

"Emmett, this will stop. I told you before, but you decided to keep this up. I want you to give me your car keys as you won't be needing them for a week, starting tomorrow."

"I'm not allowed to drive?"

"You like to tease Edward because he cannot drive his car, so I think it'll do you good to not drive for a while."

Emmett's shoulders slumped and the look he gave his mother seemed pleading.

"Go upstairs to your room. I'll be there shortly to collect the key," Esme told him and saw him nodding his head.

He stood up and after he gave his wife a sympathetic look because she hadn't been dismissed yet, he turned back towards Esme. "Yes, Mom. I will apologise to Edward later."

With quick steps he left the room and they could hear him climb the stairs and vanish into his and Rosalie's room.

Now Esme focussed her attention back on her daughter, and she inwardly groaned as she already knew Rosalie would have trouble accepting her punishment. She was a person that tended to be difficult at times, especially when she got punished for bad behaviour.

"Rosalie, is there anything you would like to say to us?"

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

Rosalie raised an eyebrow as though she was challenging her mother. "Whatever you want me to be sorry for, I guess."

"That's enough now. You will also give me your car keys, Rosalie," Esme was fed up it seemed and it didn't look like Rosalie's attitude would improve anytime soon.

"Just because Edward agreed to start out as fifteen, you want to keep me from driving my car now? That was _his_ decision!" Rose argued, her face distorted with disbelief and anger.

"And you made the decision to tease him about it even though I told you to stop or face consequences."

"You cannot be serious!"

"But I am," Esme told her.

"_Dad!_" she almost whined and looked up at her father sitting on the armrest.

Carlisle sighed, then slowly started to shake his head – albeit grudgingly. He loved to hear her call him Dad and it was to be expected that she would be upset about getting punished for teasing. But she had disobeyed them even though she had been warned.

"Rosalie, is there a reason why you and Edward don't get along?" Carlisle asked carefully, hoping she would tell them. Something wasn't right – well, he knew that something wasn't right because Edward had tried to pin the blame for his misbehaviour on his sister – but he wanted Rosalie to open up for her own benefit. Unfortunately she wasn't a person who would turn to others when she had a problem or something was bothering her. She mostly kept things to herself, just like she did now.

"He's a jerk," Rose told her father, before she turned her head to look at Esme again. "Take my keys for a week, Esme, whatever. Do what you want with them. They're upstairs in my purse, ask Emmett to give them to you." Rosalie would definitely not walk upstairs to personally hand them over to her, Esme could forget that.

"Thank you, dear. But it's going to be three weeks, not one," Esme clarified and saw how Rosalie's jaw dropped. "Think about the way you treated your brother, how often we have had situations like that, how I warned you to stop or face consequences. Or how you tried to lie about buying that children's seat. And maybe you should think about the way you just behaved. Do I need to say more?"

Rose closed her mouth and turned her head away.

"No driving for the next three weeks and this horrible behaviour towards Edward stops, is that clear?"

Knowing that telling Esme what she wanted to hear was the only thing that would make her go away and leave her alone, Rosalie forced herself to look up at her and say, "Yes, mother."

"Good," Esme said softly and made to place her hand on Rosalie's shoulder, but Rose drew away from the touch.

The atmosphere was tense, and so Carlisle cleared his throat to get his wife's attention. "How about we go for a walk, Esme? I think some fresh air would be nice."

"Sounds wonderful, darling. I'll be right back." Then Esme turned on her heel and walked upstairs to ask Emmett for the keys.

Rosalie looked unhappy, even though she felt indeed relieved that Esme had left and the talk was over.

"Rose, sweetheart, what is wrong?" Carlisle asked when he was sure they were alone and no one could overhear them speak. He had noticed the edge to his daughter's voice and the look in her eyes, and he hoped she might consider open up to him now that Esme was out of earshot.

"Dad, three weeks? Please, you cannot let her take my keys away for three weeks," she pleaded and leaned into him as he placed his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

Carlisle sighed while running his hand up and down her upper arm. "You have been warned and you know from experience that there are consequences if you don't heed that warning."

"But three weeks?" she asked in a faint voice and glanced up at him beseechingly. Her eyes were darkened with sadness and frustration, and Carlisle felt his heart constrict as their eyes met.

"Sweetheart, please talk to me."

She looked down at her hands, and after what seemed like an eternity she lifted her head to meet his gaze again. She opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of footsteps coming from the upper floor and heading for the stairs made her close it again and avert her eyes.

Carlisle knew Esme would be back in this room in a few moments so they could go for a walk after this stressful day to get some time to themselves. It hurt him to see his beautiful daughter like this and even though he knew she deserved her punishment, he couldn't help but feel bad.

"Can you talk to her?"

Taking a deep breath, Carlisle stood up from the couch and whispered, "I'll see what I can do."

Esme took the last steps and reached the foyer, while Rosalie stood up and gave her father a little smile.

"Thank you," she said and hugged him.

Feeling her wrap her arms around his neck, Carlisle hugged her back and closed his eyes while he enjoyed this rare moment of affection between them. She sought comfort, and he was more than willing to help her feel better.

"My sweet, little rosebud," Carlisle whispered in her ear while tightening the embrace.

Suddenly Rose pulled away and sat back down on the couch. While she folded her arms over her chest, Esme entered the room and came to a halt in front of Carlisle.

"Shall we?" she asked and smiled at her husband, before glancing at her daughter who didn't even look at her.

Rosalie had just turned her head away so she wouldn't have to look her in the face.

"Sure, come." He took her hand in his, then looked over his shoulder. "See you later, Rosie," he said softly before they left the house through the porch door, leaving their daughter sitting alone in the living room.

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**Apparently I made a mistake by putting Em in the garage ... hm. Oh well, at least he was quiet while ruining the floor *shrug***

**Reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello guys and thank you for your reviews!**

**I didn't have enough time at hand, but here's the next chapter. The first part is a talk between Esme and Carlisle and I'm not really sure if you'll like it. Originally it was only meant for me so I would know what they think, but then I decided against deleting it and now you can read it, too. Have fun!**

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After Carlisle and Esme had jumped over the rushing river that separated their grounds from the forest, they gave each other a little smile, then entered the dark forest.

Hand in hand they strolled in between fallen trees, ferns and high firs, when Esme noticed the glances her husband shot her throughout their supposedly relaxing walk. Something seemed to occupy his mind as he didn't even say a word, and that's why Esme pulled him to the side so they could sit on a fallen tree and just talk.

"I missed you today," Carlisle said while clasping her hand in both of his and turning a little to the side so they could properly face each other.

"I'm here now," she replied, then sighed. "Even though we do not need to rest like humans, I still find moving to be quite straining."

"Yes, love, I agree."

Carlisle placed his arm around his mate's shoulders, pulling her closer, and she leaned against his shoulder and chest while taking a slow, deep breath. She felt like she was finally able to breathe freely, now that they were alone and would be able to enjoy a few hours of silence until the next day would claim their abilities and attention once more.

"What is it that you want to talk to me about?" Esme suddenly asked and looked up into his eyes.

He smirked in response, knowing that nothing could pass his beautiful wife's attention – she just knew him too well. But the little amused smirk disappeared as quickly as it had come, and a frown appeared on his face. "Love …," he said, "I'm worried about Rosalie."

Esme drew away, feeling confused about the concern he just voiced, and as she sat up, she asked, "About Rosalie? Well, what happened?"

Without knowing he blinked his eyes at his wife, baffled that she hadn't noticed before. "Didn't you notice? She seemed glum."

"Yes, she did," Esme agreed and sighed, then looked at him as though she was expecting him to tell her more about what seemed to bother him.

"... doesn't it worry you?" he questioned, his voice soft but holding a hint of confusion.

"No, it doesn't," Esme replied while shaking her head.

He just stared at her, incomprehension prominent in his bright golden eyes. Esme was always worried about their children and wanted them all to be happy and well. He couldn't understand what would make her so unconcerned now when something was clearly bothering their eldest daughter.

Esme tzked when she saw that her husband was looking at her in disbelief. "Don't worry, Carlisle, I know exactly why and it is nothing that should trouble you." She gave him a small smile that was supposed to help ease his worries, but it didn't seem to work.

He frowned, but watched her attentively, waiting for her to reveal the reason why his sweet daughter seemed to be unable to talk to him.

"I rebuked her in the car on our drive to Port Angeles, because she and Emmett make rude remarks about Edward. She has been glum ever since. But hopefully being grounded from driving will make her think about her teasing and stop. That way she doesn't need to feel glum again in the near future."

While that explanation did make sense in a way, it also didn't. "I'm not sure this is the true reason, darling. It seems to be something deeper in her heart, not just hiding under the surface so easily."

"Did you ask her if something was troubling her?"

Carlisle affirmed with a nod of his head. "Yes, but she was hesitant and then decided against telling me."

Esme gave him a reassuring smile. "See? She knows that you would tell her exactly the same - exactly what I told her. We both want the teasing to stop."

"That is true, my love, I would love to see them treat each other with dignity, love and respect at all times - not picking on each other and making snide remarks," he said and after a short pause he added, "But I cannot shake the feeling that Rose isn't herself lately."

All of a sudden the look in Esme's eyes became scrutinising as she watched her husband before shaking her head and letting out a little laugh. "Daddy's little princess ..."

"What do you mean?"

"Is it possible - I mean, is there even the slightest chance that maybe she was only pretending to be sad so that you find me and try to talk me out of her punishment?" she asked knowingly, then patted him on the knee when he frowned.

"I don't think so, love," he said slowly.

"Oh, but I do," she replied with a slight chuckle and smoothed his hair back from his forehead while gazing into his eyes. "You're stressed out enough as it is. Don't make it worse on yourself by worrying over something that is nothing but a trick. Once Rosalie realises that she deserves this punishment, she'll be back to her old self."

Hearing his wife say that made it impossible for Carlisle to remain silent. Esme seemed so sure that Edward needed to be saved from his siblings picking on him – but he wasn't convinced that the boy was indeed suffering as much as his lovely wife insinuated. And he didn't believe that Rosalie had been fooling him. "Esme, I cannot shake the feeling that you aren't ever doubting what Edward tells you."

"What are you trying to tell me, darling?"

"I think that maybe …," he started to say, then paused for a few seconds to be able to carefully choose his words. "Well, I think that maybe Edward isn't being entirely honest."

Esme gasped and drew back, staring at him with a shocked expression. "I cannot believe you just said that."

Now he felt the sudden urge to apologise, but then realised that he had nothing to apologise for. Esme seemed offended by his words, but he was just trying to break it to her that their dear son could be just as manipulative as she claimed Rosalie to be. "You haven't been witness to the talk we had today in my study. He pinned the blame for what happened on Rosalie."

"Why would he blame her if she wasn't - at least partly - to blame for him feeling frustrated and therefore acting out? Carlisle, think about it. This is Edward we are talking about," she told him in an attempt to make him see reason. Edward didn't lie, at least she couldn't imagine him lying about something as serious as that.

"And this is Rosalie we are talking about," Carlisle countered. "It wouldn't be like her to spend that much time tormenting her brother until he would feel forced to act out. That doesn't make sense, love. Edward disobeyed us, he stole the key … I don't see how Rosalie could be blamed for that. Besides, she spent so much time alone in her room or with Emmett lately, I have the feeling she mostly ignored Edward instead of teasing him."

"That is true," Esme admitted and nodded her head slightly before she stopped and her gaze hardened. "But it is also true that we are constantly, with every move, confronted with the problem of these two arguing with each other."

"And that's what I am trying to tell you, Esme. It isn't just one-sided."

"I know that it isn't, but my poor baby boy has been through enough. What kind of a mother would I be if I let such behaviour go without even a warning, while you spank my boy until he can't sit anymore?"

"Esme, I-" "You have been so very harsh with him, and don't you dare tell me otherwise," she almost snapped at him.

"Love, I have been nowhere near as harsh as he would have deserved for the way he acted in my office and the risks he took. I hope he won't make me regret my lenience," Carlisle said and exhaled a long breath as today's memories made the stress of the day wash over him once more. "I punished him for his deliberate disobedience, not for his and Rosalie's difficult sibling love."

He gazed at the foot steps in the slightly muddy ground that marked the path he and Esme had taken before they decided to sit down, and when he noticed that his wife didn't react to what he said but just sat there with a pondering look on her face, he cleared his throat before speaking. "We are carrying the responsibility for all our children and they put their trust in us to keep order and insure everyone's safety."

Esme let out a soft sigh as she had to accept that Carlisle had only done what needed to be done to restore order. "Yes, I know, Carlisle."

"And it sounds like you are trying to get back at me by punishing Rose," he remarked and glanced at her just in time as she snapped her head around to look at him in bewilderment. His words were provoking, but he wanted to see what made his wife give Rose a punishment for the duration of three weeks. It was quite long, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it derived from the fact that Edward received punishment earlier that day.

"No, I am trying to tell you that you are being overly soft with our daughter. There really is no need for that."

Carlisle heaved a sigh, making his wife frown and wait for him to say something as he was clearly not agreeing with her.

"Edward can be ... theatrical at times," Carlisle started to explain. "I know the boy, and I know that with the help of his gift he can evoke certain reactions from people surrounding him. Reactions that he can use to his advantage. I don't mean to offend you, love, but there were several occasions when I got the feeling that you were subject to his ... trick."

Manipulation was a harsh word, so he decided that 'trick' would work just as well. He didn't want Esme to think that he regarded their son as some kind of criminal, or wouldn't trust him. But there were times when it became apparent that Edward laid it on thick so his mother would ask for a mitigation of punishment.

Her reaction was something Carlisle never would have expected.

She laughed.

His beautiful wife laughed heartily like he had just told her an amusing story instead of about one of their son's not so flattering characteristics.

"Just listen to yourself!" she said in between laughs.

When she calmed, she gave her husband a sweet smile and said, "I also know Edward, and maybe even better than you do, because we have a very special bond. Besides, barely a day passes that you aren't subject to our daughters' tricks. Just look at what they are getting away with - you are spoiling them rotten."

"What are you getting at, darling?" he asked and crossed his arms over his chest while giving her a questioning look.

"Oh dear," she said and sighed. "Don't you realise what you are doing? You tell me that I am too indulgent with Edward, that I fall for his tricks. That's what _you_ are doing, Carlisle. I know you - you want me to go easy on Rose because that's who you are. You have trouble seeing through the girls' tricks and when I punish one of them because they need a wake-up call and someone needs to keep them in line, you come to me and try to talk me out of it. But that's not going to happen. I will not stand here and watch the children wound each other with words and victimise each other. That will stop - rather sooner than later."

Carlisle saw what his wife meant - and he couldn't blame her for assuming that he loved to spoil the girls and had trouble being strict with them. It was true, it really was - but she treated their boys the same way.

And he understood that Esme was fed up with their children's arguments, as he felt exactly the same way about it. This time they really should try to stop it before it could get out of hand.

Still, he was worried about his daughter and had his doubts that her behaviour was meant to manipulate him. This deep sadness he had detected in her eyes - something she would normally hide behind a frosty look - couldn't have been evoked by a simple reprimand from Esme.

"I agree that we need to step in a lot earlier than we usually did. I agree that a punishment for Rosalie and Emmett is in order for picking on their brother the way they did, but taking her keys to keep her from driving her car for three weeks is maybe out of proportion, love. Please, is there any chance that you might rethink your decision?"

"No," Esme said decisively. As he opened his mouth, no doubt to plead some more, she quickly added the reasoning behind her steeliness. "And do you know why? Because she won't learn. And then it continues until she and Edward get punished again and I won't let that happen. Let's see if once is enough. It'll spare us the frustration and them the constant anger toward each other."

"I see your point," he admitted, nodding his head thoughtfully. So she was actually doing it for both of them, even if it still seemed to be quite long. And his poor Rose had been so miserable earlier ...

"And do you agree with me?" Esme queried, distracting him from his thoughts.

"While I still feel that three weeks is rather harsh, I do understand why you chose to forego the repeated warnings this time," he said, then added in an almost whisper, "But I cannot shake the feeling that something's wrong with Rose."

"I will talk to Rosalie and ask her if there's something she wishes to talk about. Maybe she'll tell me if she refused to speak with you," Esme said and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Carlisle seemed so concerned about their daughter that she wanted to help. Help Rosalie if there was indeed something troubling her, and help Carlisle by taking a little stress off of him.

Hearing his wife say that made Carlisle sigh with relief and he smiled at her in gratitude. "Thank you, love."

* * *

Rose didn't even look up as her parents left the house for their walk through the forest in the dark. She was, to put it mildly, pissed.

This was just so frustrating, but exactly what she had expected to happen – Esme believed whatever Edward told her and then she wouldn't even listen to anything she said. It was like she was biased … Edward was a sweet boy, but she was a mean little liar. So there had been no use in trying to tell her mother that Edward was not an innocent little boy like she thought he was, but a filthy liar who manipulated her.

And for defending herself she just got her car keys taken away. _How was that fair?_

Edward _chose_ to start out younger than he actually was, he _chose_ not to drive – it was only two months anyways, like that would matter. They would live forever, so what were two months? Nothing.

His constant whining and sulking was annoying all of them, but Esme happily oversaw that. But when someone told him to cut the crap, the person got punished.

_Three weeks … that was way out of proportion. Hopefully Carlisle would see what a jerk Edward was, and that getting punished for his mistakes was anything but fair._

Rose sat there on the couch, her jaw clenched as she glared at the magazines lying on the coffee table, until she realised that she was making herself even more miserable by thinking about nothing but stupid Edward and her mother being completely unreasonable.

She groaned and put her elbow on the armrest, then put her head in her hand.

Great … she would have never expected for this night to get even worse, but _oh what a surprise!_, Edward had done it _again_.

Rose wasn't even in the mood anymore for going upstairs and spending the rest of the night with Emmett alone in their room. No, there was no romance left in her, not even a tiny little bit.

It would be nicer to just watch TV or a movie with the others, maybe some comedy that would lift her spirits while the others would chat and laugh and distract her from the frustration and anger she felt.

She sat there for another while, contemplating on going upstairs and asking Emmett, as well as Alice and Jasper, if they wanted to spend some time together. But she didn't do that – Jasper and Alice might want to have some alone time … or maybe they weren't in the mood for spending time with her. And she was in no condition where she could endure rejection. No, that would be too hurtful right now.

But as she thought again about risking it or just sitting here, all alone, she suddenly heard doors open and footsteps leading down the stairs. She quickly ran a hand through her blond locks and touched the tips of her index fingers to the edge of her lower eyelids to check if she had tears in her eyes - tears that would show that she wasn't indifferent to what had happened. Sometimes tears came to her eyes when anger or sadness became too much for her to handle, but she always tried to make sure no one would ever catch sight of her during one of her weak moments. Rose had no tears in her eyes that would have needed to be wiped away, and so she turned a little in her seat and looked behind herself in the direction of the stairs.

Just seconds later and Emmett appeared at the bottom of the stairs, giving her a smile that made her feel more at ease almost instantly. She stood up and they hugged when he was close enough, then Emmett pulled her over to the loveseat to the right and they sat down. His arm hung lazily over her shoulder and she played with his fingers when Alice and Jasper walked down the stairs, holding hands and looking apprehensive but also relieved.

They chose the big couch to sit down, and Alice asked, "TV, anyone?"

"Sure, switch it on," Emmett replied and smiled at his petite sister who grabbed the remote off the coffee table, then cuddled into her mate's side.

Minutes passed as they watched some show Alice had chosen and Rose felt herself getting calmer in her husband's arms and in the presence of Alice and Jasper. She was sure Jasper wasn't using her talent on her - sometimes his sheer presence had a calming effect on the people surrounding him. That was odd, but also fascinating.

Out of the corner of her eye Rose noticed movement and as she turned her head to glance in the direction of the stairs, she internally groaned as her 'favourite' brother stood on the bottom step of the stairs, looking at her blankly like the idiot that he was.

Her eyes narrowed automatically as he approached them - he probably still wasn't done ruining this day. Something is seriously wrong with this boy ...

She felt Emmett's hand on her knee as he gave it a little soothing rub to gain her attention and calm her as he already knew that she was out of sorts with Edward.

Another moment of glaring passed until Rose took her eyes off her brother and looked in the other direction. Looking at him would only make her angry, so she tried to ignore him the best she could in order to keep her cool.

But ignoring someone who was an idiot and slumped down on his aching butt, then tried to hide the discomfort he was feeling, was more than just a little difficult. And it was hilarious, actually. It was so satisfying to see that Carlisle had used the time well while they had been banned from the house, and so Rose couldn't help but snort.

"What, do you have diaper rash?" she asked while eyeing him with a look of amusement in her eyes. It served him right after being so horrible for the last few weeks.

Even Emmett smirked now she noticed, but suddenly someone else demanded her attention.

"Rose, don't." It was Jasper who tried to keep a quarrel from breaking off. He shook his head as she looked at him, telling her to stop.

She didn't reply, because she hadn't planned on saying anything else anyways, but as she wanted to turn her focus back to the TV, she got distracted as Alice had something to say. "Are you all right?" she asked and looked over at Edward like he was someone they should pity. It was his own fault that he wasn't able to sit comfortably and he wouldn't get any sympathy from Rose, no way.

"Yes, I'm fine, Alice. Thank you," Edward replied, his voice sounding a little strained, and Rosalie couldn't help but snort again. But she managed to keep herself from saying anything, because she didn't want Edward to start an argument with her that would chase Jasper and Alice out of the house. Just like she and Em, these two didn't get the chance to spend the day like they would have wanted – yes, because Edward had chosen this day as the perfect time to act out and disrespect their parents. So now it was on her to ignore him in order to make sure they would be able to spend the rest of the night feeling as calm and normal as possible - instead of angry and frustrated.

But then - _sure, why not? -_ Edward had the nerve to talk to her and even shoot her a glare. "You shouldn't be mad at me, Rosalie. It's you who's at fault here."

"Let's not talk about fault now, all right?" Jasper tried to soothe them. But Rose and Edward barely noticed him speak, and just continued to get into a heated argument.

"I'm at fault here?" Rosalie asked and gasped in disbelief at his audacity to even speak to her today. The boy could read minds, so he should know that she wanted to be left alone. "Listen, you whiny wimp, I'm not the one walking around lying my ass off."

Edward's reaction was the same as Rosalie's. He just gasped and asked, "Lying? I didn't lie about _anything_!"

Now that was a big, fat lie. A huge one - ridiculous that he didn't notice himself. "Sure you didn't," Rose said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. _Did Carlisle even know that his first-born son was a pathological liar? He better send him off to therapy before it would get any worse … or maybe he figured that it was too late already._

"Do you even have the slightest idea of how much trouble I'm in because of you? I even have to do the garden with Esme!"

Was he expecting her to _sympathise_ with him now? It wasn't like that birdbrain could be of any help anyways … Esme would probably get him a sand box, then give him a few sand molds to keep him occupied and quiet. The thought amused her, and so she pictured the scene in her head to give Edward something to look at in case he was reading her mind once again.

Then, because she grew tired of Edward and especially talking to him, she started to check her nails because she knew Edward absolutely 'loved' it whenever she did that. It normally shut him up or just made him leave the room – whatever he would choose to do was fine with her. But he was probably still waiting for an answer, and it would be rude not to give him one. "Cry me a river, Edward," Rosalie said in a voice that implied she couldn't care less, because she indeed couldn't care less.

He did not leave the room, and what she had just said to him only served to shut him up for a few seconds. With a lopsided sneer on his face, he suddenly asked, "How did your talk with Mom go, huh?"

Rosalie's eyes instantly narrowed and quite possibly, they darkened as well.

That fucker had listened in.

Of course he had - nothing was sacred to him. _Calm yourself, Rose, he's not worth it ..._

Even though she succeeded in keeping herself from ripping his arm off and using it to beat the shit out of him, she did not succeed in keeping the disgust out of her voice. "Ugh. Don't talk to me, idiot boy."

She looked away from Edward, because she couldn't endure seeing his stupid smirk any longer, and her eyes fell on her sister.

Alice was cuddled up against Jasper, looking like she was so comfortable, that she – despite being a vampire – would fall asleep any moment now. "I don't wish to interrupt your pleasant little chat, but Mom and Dad will be back soon, so you better stop now ... it wouldn't end well for either of you," the petite girl said without taking her eyes off the TV. She seemed to be indifferent whether her two siblings got punished or not, but she just wanted to let them know that stopping their argument right now couldn't hurt. Literally.

Rose glanced at Edward once to check if he would have enough sense left to heed Alice's warning, before she leaned back against Emmett and felt him press his lips softly against her temple while they continued to watch TV.

* * *

**And that was the fifth chapter! I hope you liked it, even though we had more Carlisle and Esme than Rose. At least Emmy was being a good boy ;-) I'm so proud of him *grins* But in the next chapter the Cullen kids will go to school and then spend the rest of the day in Port Angeles ... places where he can find a million things that aren't exactly Emmy-proof ... well, we'll see how it goes!**

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello and MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**Ugh, I hate apologising but ... I'm sorry for letting you wait! The first half of this chapter was already written when I was suddenly suffering from writer's block ... or something. Not that I didn't know what would happen in this chapter, I just couldn't write anymore. Guess that is writer's block. But 'luckily' Emmy was being 'helpful' again and so here comes the next chapter:**

* * *

It was early in the morning when Carlisle and Esme came back from their walk. Their children had withdrawn to their rooms to get some down time before they would have to spend hours at school once again.

Esme wanted to check on Edward as soon as they entered the house, but Carlisle reminded her of her promise to go and ask Rosalie if she was all right. Edward was fine and he got to spend quite a bit of time with his mother earlier – maybe now it was time to extend the same courtesy to Rose.

Agreeing that that would be the best course of action to restore harmony in their home and make sure her husband wouldn't have to concern himself with unfounded worries, she ascended the stairs and knocked on Rose and Emmett's room door to see if her daughter would be willing to talk to her.

She heard footsteps – light and quiet – heading for the door and immediately knew that it was her blonde daughter who would open it a moment later.

And indeed, Rose opened the door, albeit just a crack, and looked at her expectantly.

"Yes?"

Esme gave her a smile. "Rose, dear."

"Emmett gave you my keys already."

"Yes, he did. But that's not why I came," Esme said, making Rose frown in confusion, before she started explaining why she wanted to speak with her. "I had the feeling that we did not part on the best of feelings and that's why I would like to talk to you for a moment. Shall we go somewhere where we have a little more privacy?" Esme asked and took a step back to give Rose room to step out of her room, so they could sit down in Carlisle's study or their bedroom.

"Emmett's taking a shower, we can talk here," Rose replied without making a move to leave her room. She was pretty sure that the next talk with her mother wouldn't be any more pleasant than the last one, and the mention of privacy in this house was just laughable. Edward was in everyone's head, because he knew he could get away with it. And because he had no life.

"All right. But I thought it might take a little longer than just a few minutes," Esme explained, hoping Rosalie would see that she only meant well.

"I don't have much time, so I would prefer if you could make it quick, or postpone it." The last day had shown her that she had no say in this, ever, but she wanted to try. And maybe that way Esme would experience what it felt like wanting to get a talk over with but being constantly pushed away.

"Can I come in?"

Rose blinked her eyes like her mother's question was nothing but weird. _Was she that forgetful?_ "Emmett is taking a shower." They could talk here at the door, but she didn't want her mother in the room when Emmett would get dressed.

"All right, dear." Esme sighed, before asking, "Rose … is there anything you would like to talk to me about?"

Rosalie lifted one eyebrow at her mother's question. Now that was seriously odd … _what was wrong with Esme?_

"I thought _you_ wanted to talk," Rosalie remarked and shifted her weight from one foot to another to indicate that she was getting impatient and wasn't exactly interested in having a pointless talk with her mother.

Nodding her head, Esme said, "Yes. Yes, I do. I would like to talk about if something is bothering you, worrying you."

"Bothering me?" _Was that some kind of trick? _Esme knew exactly what was bothering her, but last night she hadn't cared about that at all.

"You seem a little distant lately and I thought that maybe something wasn't right. Talking helps, love."

Rose took a deep breath and looked at the ground while leaning against the door frame. When she looked up again and was just about to open her mouth to say something, a yelp filled the house, coming from Edward's room.

Esme broke eye contact to look in the direction the sound was coming from, and when she looked back at Rose to tell her to go on, Rosalie shook her head.

"No." she said. Esme wanted to go check on poor, little Edward, Rose could see it in her eyes. That woman had no clue that Edward was only trying to gain her attention by pretending to be in pain, and she didn't bother to tell her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Yes, she was sure that she didn't want to talk to Esme about it. She was too proud to steep so low to be on the same level as Edward … and she wasn't sure if her mother would believe her as she was already convinced that everything she ever did since they moved to Forks was picking on Edward. Like he couldn't defend himself and needed their mother to help him. It was a little pitiful that Esme did not realise what was happening around her and that she let Edward fool her like that.

"You know you can find your father or me anytime you wish. Anytime you need to talk, dear."

Rose wasn't fully convinced of that, but nevertheless nodded her head to indicate that she knew. "Thank you."

Right now she couldn't help but feel betrayed by Esme and additionally being treated like a basket case that needed pity and help - it wasn't exactly flattering.

No, Esme had already done enough.

"I need to get ready for school," Rose suddenly stated and pushed away from the door frame.

"Yes, dear, of course." As Esme stepped away and headed for the stairs, Rose saw that she was ascending the stairs, no doubt on her way to Edward's room. She was probably going to tell him that she had taken care of the big, bad wolf and now he could continue to live in peace and harmony.

"Who was that?" Emmett asked as Rosalie shut the door.

She turned around and saw him vanishing into their big walk-in closet to find something to wear to school.

"Esme."

"I already gave her the keys," he said with a frown and peeked at her through the open doorway while stepping into a clean pair of jeans and zipping them up.

"Yes, that's not why she came," she replied and sat down on her bed, picking up a necklace from her bedside table and opening the clasp.

"… okay?" he asked and walked over to an overstuffed armchair to pick up the T-shirt he had worn before taking a shower. He lifted it up to his face and sniffed it. "Hey, does this shirt smell like popcorn?" he asked his wife and held it out to her.

Rose sighed. "It's dirty, Em. Go get a clean one."

"No, I didn't stain it, it just … smells funny," he replied and sniffed it again, then whispered to himself, "I could swear this is popcorn."

After sniffing it once more, he held it out to her once more. "Smell it."

"Emmett." She groaned. "Please put on a clean one, there are more than enough in our closet."

With a shrug he let go of the shirt, letting it drop to the floor, then turned around and walked into the closet.

He emerged a moment later, pulling a dark blue T-shirt over his head, then looked over to her. She let her necklace loop around her neck, and when he saw that, he quickly climbed onto the bed behind her to help her put it on.

"Thanks, Em."

"You're welcome, babe," he replied and sat down next to her. "Hey … what did Mom want?"

"She asked me if there was anything bothering me."

He laughed. "Well, that's one thing she could have figured out herself … not being able to drive for a week."

"Oh, haven't you heard? It's three weeks for me," she informed him and started to pull invisible lint off her sleeve.

Emmett's jaw dropped. "What for?"

She shrugged her shoulders dismissively and shook her head. "I'm not even sure myself. Something about Edward, Edward and lying."

His eyes grew wide at what she said and he looked at her weirdly. "Well, what did you lie about?"

"Nothing." Then she groaned and leaned against him. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't even want to think about it."

"But if she wasn't fair, I think you should go talk to her. Or talk to Carlisle. C'mon babe, what harm can it do? I don't like seeing you miserable. I'm sure they would understand if you just tell them," he tried to coax her into standing up for herself.

She normally didn't have a problem with doing so, but this time she felt a blockade keeping her from doing just that. So she shook her head and stood up, only to make her way over to the armchair where she picked up Emmett's carelessly discarded clothes of the day before to put them in the hamper.

"Rose, stop that. Go talk to Carlisle, I'm sure he's in his office," Emmett said as he watched his wife collecting different pieces of clothes.

"Just let me clean up real quick," she answered, never lifting her head to look at him.

"I'll do it!" he told her cheerily and smiled at her like an excited child, taking his clothes from her.

"... since when do you volunteer to clean up, Emmett?" she asked, her eyes showing a hint of wariness as she glanced at him.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he said, "It looks like fun."

Rose tried to suppress a smirk. Wasn't he sweet … he really wanted her to talk to Carlisle and he would even clean up after himself only to make her leave the room and find their father.

She let out a heavy sigh, then nodded hesitantly. "All right. If Carlisle isn't too busy, I'll talk to him."

"He would never be too busy to talk to you," Emmett told her and went to open the door for her, giving her an encouraging smile when she stepped out into the hallway.

She hesitated for a moment before she rapped her knuckles softly against the dark wood of Carlisle's office door. From inside she could hear movement, footsteps heading for the door, and then it was opened.

Carlisle's expression showed surprise, before he made himself smile at his eldest daughter. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes, something he immediately tried to hide, but she had already noticed.

"Come in, sweetheart," he said and opened the door further, stepping aside so she could enter.

For a moment she stood in the middle of the room, unsure of where to sit down now so they could talk.

Carlisle looked at her over his shoulder after he had closed the door, then nodded in the direction of the dark leather couch standing in one corner of the room.

"Take a seat, dear," he suggested and after she nodded her head and took a few steps until she reached the couch, he followed after her and sat down with her.

"Did you speak with your mother?"

"A few minutes ago," she replied and looked down at her folded hands that rested in her lap.

"That's good," Carlisle said and placed a hand on her folded ones, making her look up at him with a hint of scepticism in her eyes.

"You asked her to talk to me, didn't you?" she asked knowingly, looking at him through a curtain of her blond locks that had fallen into her face. Carlisle brushed them away, then tucked them behind her ear, glad that she didn't draw away from his touch.

"I did, but she had already planned on doing so," he confirmed and sighed. By the look Rose gave him he knew that the talk between mother and daughter did not have a positive result - for neither of them.

To break the silence in the room - out of discomfort or hurry - Rose stated, "She didn't change her mind." She didn't feel the need to phrase it as a question, because she was almost completely sure that Esme would stick to her decision of grounding her from driving her car for a ridiculous amount of time.

Carlisle shook his head, giving his daughter a look that seemed almost apologising. "No."

Barely noticeable her shoulders slumped, and the way she looked at her folded hands in her lap, she was the perfect image of someone who felt aggrieved.

Rosalie closed her eyes for a brief moment. Well, she should have known ... whenever there was something happening like an argument between her and Edward, Esme would take his side. Fine, she wasn't entirely sure if it happened like that every time, but right now it felt that way as she couldn't recall a single time when her mother had defended her. At least Carlisle wasn't biased and with his support she had at least a little chance of getting her keys back before the three weeks would be up. Three weeks ...

"Can't you talk to her again?" she asked after a lot of hesitating, not feeling exactly comfortable asking her father something like that. She didn't want him to think that she was using him or trying to play her parents against each other - she was just hoping he would realise that Esme's punishment for her wasn't fair. Never in a million years would she take Edward's keys away, especially for such a length of time, so why was she doing this to her?

Carlisle took a deep breath and leaned back against the soft upholstery of his leather couch. "Rose," he said, "that's not how it works. I won't bother her when she's made a decision. But let's wait for one week and if everything goes well, I'm sure she will come to you and give you your keys back."

That was probably the best answer she would get at this time, but nonetheless she had to voice her doubts. "What if she won't?"

"Just wait and see, Rosie. Besides, Emmett will get his keys back in a week. He'll be looking forward to driving you wherever you need to go, hm?" Carlisle asked and tilted his head to the side to be able to look at her directly. He was hoping to get a little smile in return, but Rose only shook her head in irritation.

"I don't need anyone to drive me around, I have my own car and I am perfectly capable of driving it."

She was just as stubborn as her brother, Carlisle thought, and he cleared his throat to keep himself from smiling. "Sweetheart, please be patient and respect your mother's decision. I promise you that I will ask her if she might rethink her decision in a few days, but right now I want you to refrain from driving your car and not pester your mother about your punishment. And no more arguing with Edward."

And that must have struck a nerve. Rose's eyes narrowed at the mention of her brother's name, and she got up from the couch.

"I need to get ready for school," she said without turning around. But when she reached the door and was just about to open it, Carlisle stood up as well.

"Rose."

She froze, her hand on the door handle. "I need to get ready for school," she said again, hoping he would excuse her now.

"Could you spare me another minute, Rosie?"

Contemplating this for a moment and coming to realise that she shouldn't be short with her father as he had done nothing but try to help her, she let go of the door handle and slowly turned back around.

"Of course," she said softly, nodding her head.

He sat back down on the couch, taking the exact same spot he had occupied moments ago. "Come," he said, patting the seat next to him, looking at her with gentle, golden eyes that held warmness and love, but also worry.

She complied, and after she had sat down and glanced sideways at him, she heard him clear his throat.

"Rosie, dear, you know that you can always come to me whenever something is bothering you or upsetting you, don't you?"

"Yes."

"... is there anything you'd like to talk to me about? No matter what it is, I can assure you that I will listen."

Too bad that she remembered that Esme had tried the exact same thing before Edward interrupted them and practically demanded their mother's attention like a three-year-old. It was tiring to know that whatever she would tell her father now, it would not stay within the privacy of this room. There was no such thing as privacy in this house, nor anywhere else where Edward was. Now did she really want to compromise herself and show her brother that he had struck a nerve? And apart from that, she would be telling her father, a man she loved and thought highly of, of one of her weaknesses. What if he would downplay the whole situation and therefore ridicule her ... would she be able to deal with it? Deal with the knowledge that she herself was to blame if she lost her trust and respect for him? Why risk that outcome?

"No, Carlisle, nothing."

He didn't immediately reply, giving her some time to think about it once more. He was certain, now more than ever, that his blonde princess was nowhere near fine. The way she averted her eyes, the way her voice took a barely audible icy edge ... this was not his daughter's usual behaviour. Over the course of many years he had learnt to read her, and even though he was aware of the fact that he still didn't know her as well as he knew Emmett or Edward, he was sure that the concern he felt for her was not unfounded.

Seeing that she wasn't going to open up to him, he nodded his head. "All right. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here, Rosie."

"I know, thank you." Rose stood up from the couch again after shooting her father a little glance, hoping he wouldn't take it personally that she refused to talk to him.

When she opened the office door to step outside into the hallway, she suddenly felt her father's presence right behind her and she looked at him over her shoulder, a confused expression on her face as she did not understand why he was following her.

He gave her a little smile, then put a hand on her shoulder while pulling the door open a little further.

"It's time for the early morning news. If you hurry getting ready for school, you can watch them with us," he suggested.

But Rosalie shook her head. "No, I don't think I have time for that. Emmy decided to clean up our room and I have the feeling that I'll be spending the rest of the morning cleaning up what he cleaned up."

Carlisle laughed, and his amusement coaxed a tiny smile to his daughter's face.

"I'm sure he's trying his hardest to be helpful," he said and internally sighed with relief at seeing his daughter smile.

The smile on her face became more prominent when she said, "Yes. Yes, he is."

Carlisle closed the door to his office while he watched Rosalie head for her and Emmett's room. She looked at him once more and for a split second he got the feeling that she was nervous or unsure about something. About what, he did not know.

For how long has Rosalie been like that? Days? Weeks? How could he not have noticed earlier?

While he slowly made his way down the hallway, then descended the stairs, his thoughts revolved around his daughter and her strange behaviour.

* * *

The room didn't look worse than before ... just different. Emmett had piled their dirty laundry on the floor right in front of their walk-in closet and was currently crumpling up some shirts to put them back to the other neatly folded ones on the shelves.

He grinned at her when he saw her entering, hoping her talk had gone just the way he had hoped it would, while bending down to pick up another piece of clothing he could 'fold'.

"So?" he asked curiously. "How did it go?"

Letting out a sigh, she approached him, then leaned against the door frame with her shoulder and folded her arms. "Nothing changed. He wants me to wait for a week, then - apparently - Esme will lessen my punishment."

"Well, that's great, isn't it?" he queried enthusiastically. "At least it's not three weeks anymore!"

"Emmett, I don't think Esme will do that," she said matter-of-factly, then started to pick up some clothes from the ground.

"No, Rose, I told you I'll do it! Now that I got the hang of it, I wanna fold them on my own," he said, still trying to help. He had no clue of laundry or housework as she, Alice and Esme took care of everything, and that's why it was actually quite sweet how helpful he was trying to be.

"You don't need to fold them, Emmy. They belong in the hamper."

He just stared at her. "Huh?"

"That's dirty laundry."

"Um, no, it's not," he stated with a snort, giving her a look that implicated that she was a tad bit dense.

She groaned. "Yes, it is. You cannot put it back on the shelves together with your clean shirts."

"But they aren't dirty!" he countered, then held out the T-shirt he was currently ... trying to fold. "Here, smell that."

She gently pushed it away as he was holding it in her face. "I know you don't sweat, but it is still dirty, Em."

"Pshaw, dirty ...," he grumbled, "my shirts aren't dirty ... maybe yours are ..."

She patted his cheek, making him look back up at her and suddenly his eyes widened like he just remembered something. "Oh, by the way, I found your French book under the sofa. I put it on the bed."

Rose frowned, then dumped a few clothes into the hamper in the bathroom before heading for their bed to see the book that he claimed to be hers.

"Emmy ... I don't take French classes this year, I chose Spanish. That's yours," she told him while holding the book up for him to see.

He dropped the shirt. "Really?"

Rose placed it back on the comforter of their bed, then turned around to look at him. "Really."

He gaped at her. "I have French classes?!"

Now that was almost comical and she couldn't help but smirk at his expression. "Um ... yes."

"Huh," he commented and scratched the back of his head like he didn't know what to say now. All of a sudden he snorted with laughter. "Guess this is gonna be an interesting year then!"

He quickly gave her a peck on the cheek, then grabbed the book from the bed and stuffed it into his backpack ... which he had found behind one of the armchairs. Quickly stuffing the book into it, he zipped his backpack shut and slung it over his shoulder.

"I'm ready, let's go!" he exclaimed and headed for the door.

Rose did not move. "I still need a moment, you go ahead," she told him.

He stopped and turned back around to look at her, this time speaking in a more serious voice like he was having the feeling that his wife needed him to be here with her. "Want me to help you with something?"

"No, I got it," she told him with a little smile. "I'll meet you in the car."

He was hesitant to leave, but then shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, but don't be late. You know Jasper drives like an old lady."

She let out a short laugh at hearing him say that. "Maybe he's just trying to obey the traffic laws in the morning, Emmy."

"Boooring ...," Emmett called while walking out of the room and in the direction of the stairs.

With a sigh, Rose started to pull a few shirts off the hangers and from the piles of clean ones, then put them into the hamper. She didn't hurry as she felt she needed a minute or two to think things through. The sound of Emmett bolting down the stairs and Esme chiding him for running in the house met her ears, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

This sucked so bad ... three weeks of not being able to drive was quite annoying. She almost felt something similar as sympathy for Edward as he wouldn't be able to drive for months. _Almost_. That greedy bastard got a brand new car for this inconvenience and it had been his choice. She, however, did not have a choice when it came to driving. Esme had her keys and she wouldn't get them back anytime soon. And even her poor Emmy wasn't allowed to drive! What had her Emmy-bear ever done to anyone?

With a huff Rose grabbed her sunglasses and her bag and left her and Emmett's room, shutting the door behind herself.

She heard the soft pattering of feet heading down the stairs and knew almost instantly that it was Alice. Jasper was calling her name, sounding like he was getting slightly impatient and she was rushing to meet him. They still had a little time left, but Jasper detested being late - he was just like Carlisle when it came to punctuality.

When Rose reached the kitchen, she saw Alice giving her mate a smile that he returned after letting out a little sigh. It was good to see that at least these two were relaxed and happy.

After what had happened the night before and this morning, Rose felt glum, and so maybe it was a good thing that she would spend the next few hours at school instead of at home. It would distract her enough from all the drama in the house and then she would hopefully be able to enjoy the time they would spend in Port Angeles today. She couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed in Esme, irritated even, and that's why she was starting to feel annoyed with herself.

Argh, it was all Edward's fault.

She watched Jasper and Alice share a quick kiss, then her brother looked over at her with a sympathetic smile and said, "Come on, Rose, we don't want to be late."

"She is being unreasonable," Rosalie moaned in response, because she knew that he knew how she was feeling this morning. Then she walked into the garage so they could leave for school.

With relief she noticed that as soon as she was in the car and they headed for Forks, she was starting to feel calmer and more relaxed, even though Edward was in the car with them. But on this day she would try her best to just ignore him.

* * *

**No Port Angeles in this chapter :-( Oh well, the holidays will give me time to write some more chapters! And write a new story, of course! It seems that my poll worked and you guys voted for the Jasper/Alice****/Carlisle story, so that is the next one I'll be working on. I'm a little scared, but we'll see how it goes.**

**Um ... review?  
**


	7. Chapter 7

School started out as a silent affair for Rose on this day. She was glad that the maths teacher paid her no mind and let her look out the window or stare straight ahead with eyes that showed that she was clearly not focussing on the here and now.

She wasn't even thinking about anything in particular, just tried to will her mind to blankness for at least a little while. It gave her a break, served as some kind of personal privacy, and so she enjoyed the wonderful silence in her mind to keep the frustration and sorrow at bay for hopefully some time.

Esme wasn't fair. She ignored her and treated her like an unwanted stepchild, just because Edward had succeeded in manipulating her to do just that. It was no big secret that their kind was prone to using manipulation. It was a manifestation of selfishness and bound to their wicked vampire nature, even though having a conscience mostly quenched that trait.

But Edward was once again making use of it without the slightest qualm, hoping it would get him what he wanted. Despite his age, he was a spoilt child that was having one temper tantrum after the other whenever something didn't go his way, but this time he had at least the mind to disguise it as incredible sadness and sorrow.

Esme was sensitive enough to perceive his sorrow, but unfortunately could not see what caused that feeling – stubbornness and boredom caused it, _obviously_. Everybody knew that. But to her it was as clear as day that her baby wasn't fine ... there was no hint broad enough that would make her realise that it was only an act and that he was fooling her.

_Oh well, it was bound to end in a couple of months. Just ignore him the best you can …_

But unfortunately that wasn't entirely an option anymore for Rose. She was getting punished for something she hadn't done, looked at like she couldn't be trusted … and she was treated like she was someone who should be pitied.

Rosalie Lillian Hale was _not_ a person that would ever need or want pity. Pity was for people who desired it, who craved attention or wanted to gain an advantage …

No, pity was pathetic - it only served to infuriate her and nothing more.

She was a proud, young woman who knew exactly what she wanted and she led a life that, despite the circumstances, was perfect the way it was. No need to complain, no need to make drastic changes.

Rose was pulled out of her musings when she suddenly heard her name being whispered. And then she realised that when she had been musing, her mind hadn't been blank. Ugh, she would have to get better at clearing her mind or the next weeks would be just plain horrible for her.

She glanced over her shoulder, seeing these two immature jerks behind her look at her, scanning her body up and down.

Letting out a silent huff, she turned back around and checked the clock on the wall for the time to see for how much longer she would have to endure these idiots' presence and their constant stares.

"They'll stop soon enough," Jasper whispered to his blonde sister and shook his head a little to show just how insignificant he thought these human boys were.

"'Now' would be preferable," she retorted and started copying a solved maths problem from the board that their teacher had been going on about for the past twenty minutes. Not that she needed it in order to be able to do her homework, but it gave her something to do while she waited for this class to be over. Strange how she had been looking forward to school not half an hour ago, but was thoroughly fed up now. And it wasn't even lunch time yet.

"A few weeks maybe."

Three weeks of being watched at home because she was basically 'on probation', a few weeks of being watched at school by humans because they expected something significant to happen. What a wonderful prospect...

"Jasper," she sighed and looked down at her desk, "that isn't helping."

"I know," he replied and added after some hesitation, "I'm sorry."

She gazed at him and nodded her head in acknowledgement. Her brother was genuinely sorry … but it was for something he had not done. He wasn't involved in the situation, was basically more of a victim than just a bystander. All the emotions he had to shield himself from, at home even more so than at school, even though their home was where he was supposed to find rest and recreation.

She, for example, felt frustrated and disappointed, angry and hurt, annoyed and downcast. That was probably a bit of a handful for an empath, who needed breaks at regular intervals to keep his sanity and a firm grip on his self-control.

Shouldn't _she_ be the one apologising? But how would she be able to change her emotions? Hurt turned to anger, annoyance to frustration … it would be a futile attempt, she realised.

"Look," Jasper whispered, having noticed her pensive expression and felt her increasing doubts and her frustration.

She gazed over her shoulder to see what her brother wanted her to see, and was met by a surprising, yet most welcome sight.

The two teenage boys who had observed her with curious eyes just moments ago, were now looking like they were trying their hardest not to cry. Jaws set, a fist pressed firmly against their lips, eyes shining with unshed tears.

Rose whipped her head back around and raised her eyebrows at Jasper, who just grinned mischievously.

She started to smirk, as she felt a spark of amusement flare up inside of her.

_Serves them right, stupid assholes ..._

When their teacher cleared his throat to gain the students' attention, Jasper gave her a wink before looking to the front of the classroom, picking up his pen like he was eager to write down every single word their oh-so-intelligent teacher would say next.

* * *

"You look better," Jasper remarked as he and Rose walked out of their classroom and down the slightly crowded hallway.

"I cannot believe it got to our year … fucking rumours," she whispered and saw out of the corner of her eye how Jasper's eyes widened.

"What?" she asked and blinked at him. "I think cussing is warranted in a situation like this."

A frown appeared on his forehead and he was quiet for a moment, looking like he was thinking about something. "Let's take the day off, Rose," he suddenly suggested, making her stop and turn to look at him.

With a raised eyebrow, she asked, "And what, pray tell, am I supposed to do at home?" He knew exactly that she didn't want to be at home right now. It was stressful and frustrating – she really needed a break from all the drama.

"We'll go on a hunt, or maybe … um, shopping."

She let out a laugh at hearing him suggest that. "_Right._ You don't even want to go shopping with Alice … but now you want to go with me?" She shook her head and sighed. "Besides, we'll spend the rest of the day in Port Angeles. That's more than enough shopping time," she told him and started climbing the stairs on her way to her next class.

He sighed, then followed after her. "Are you sure?" he asked carefully, hoping she would think about it once more.

Rose could hear concern in his voice and it made her feel a little bad that she had to refuse. He really wanted to help … but she would have to cut classes for at least a few months, not just one day. And instead of defusing the situation, it would make everything worse in the end. "Yes. I know you want to help me, but I'm fine, really."

He just raised one eyebrow at hearing her say that, because he knew for a fact that she wasn't fine. Hers and Edward's emotions were driving him up the wall lately, but he wouldn't influence her. She hated it when he meddled with her emotions, especially without her explicit permission, and adding fury to her other emotions that he already had to endure – no, thank you. It would do nothing to help solve the problem and it would only pull him even deeper into his siblings' quarrel.

"Emmett is in a great mood today," he told her and smirked when he noticed the look in his sister's eyes soften and a little smile play at the corners of her lips.

Big, bulky Emmett was the key when it came to cheering her up without making use of his gift. And it helped distract her from the looks people were giving her in this school.

Luckily on this day lunch time was, despite Edward's presence and the looks she got, more or less pleasant. They sat together at a table they had all to themselves, pretending to eat food that made them glad they lived solely on blood. Rose had no clue how some of the stuff could be called 'tasty' or even 'nourishing' …

After lunch, time seemed to crawl by incredibly slowly, and Rose felt like a zombie when she sat in the classroom, trying to ignore everything around her - the students, the teacher, the scratching of pencils against paper, the chirping of birds in the tree outside the classroom window, ... everything. So it was quite surprising to Rose that the loud ringing sound of the school bell 'woke' her up to inform her that classes were over.

She stood up and collected her things, then left the room. But before she could leave the school grounds for the day and head for Em's Jeep in the parking lot, she had one more thing to do. She still had a few questions about her book report and since it was due next week, she thought it would be smarter to go find her English teacher now and talk to her. Not that she needed to get straight A's, but somehow her pride wouldn't let her slack off and accept any other grades after she had done High school several times already. Besides, making a good impression on her teachers in the beginning would get them off her back for the next few years … it was all about reputation. _Get the reputation as an excellent student now, and you won't find yourself in trouble in the future._

Emmett hadn't always minded that rule, and it got him the reputation as a class clown and a lazy student. That wasn't so bad, until he started acting like it and completely slacked off ... but it had only happened a few times, so nevermind.

"Rosie," someone said from behind her and she turned around to look into her mate's eyes that shone with excitement.

"How was your French class, Em?" she asked and smiled when he started laughing.

"Va me chercher mon chapeau!" he called proudly.

She blinked at him, then frowned. "Okay … you do realise that you just asked me to go get your hat, don't you?"

His eyes widened. "Uh, yeah I know … I was only testing you." Then he grinned and threw his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

"Em," she said, grabbed his hand and turned around, so she could look at him and wouldn't have his arm around her shoulders anymore. "Don't."

He groaned. "Babe, I told you I don't care what they think. They'll stop soon enough."

Shaking her head, she replied, "I don't want anyone to think that you -"

"And I don't care! Let them talk."

"Em-" she tried to object once more, but he stopped her by pressing his lips against hers.

When he pulled back, he grinned at her like a Cheshire cat. "I _really_ don't care, babe. But if you want me to beat someone up, then I'll-"

"No." Rose wasn't too happy with the way he saw it, as she didn't want him being pulled into all this. Fine, people were talking about them all the time and made stuff up, but she didn't want Emmett to become the main focus. That would be too much for her, and sooner or later it might become too much for him, too. People wouldn't want to see Emmett snap, because it would be the last thing they would ever see. He was such a gentle soul, but even he and his self-control had limits.

"Okay then ... let's leave this stinky place and go to Port Angeles, yay!"

"Wait, I need to find Mrs. Egan first. Book report."

"Just take an old one, change the date, and ..._ tadaa! ..._ you're done!" he suggested and grinned at her. He had a folder with his old essays and book reports – he didn't want to waste his time doing homework again and again and again. It's stupid.

"No, I really want to do it right and that's why I need to talk to her for a moment."

"Fine … but I don't understand why you don't just give her one of your old ones … it's always about some classics and they don't change, you know."

"I'll hurry."

Emmett walked her to her teacher's classroom, then waited in the hallway until Rose was done. When she emerged from the room, he immediately put an arm around her shoulders and guided her out of the building and over to his car, where their siblings were already waiting. Edward was sitting in the passenger seat and had a sour look on his face, glowering at them as they approached the car.

"What do you think, Jasper? I dare you to drive a bit quicker this time, I know you've got it in you somewhere!" Emmett called as he came to a halt next to his car.

"I cannot make the other cars magically disappear, Em. Besides, if I get my license taken away, then who's going to drive us to school?"

Hm … he really was the only driver right now. Alice and Edward were 'too young', Rose and Emmett grounded from driving.

"Chicken shit," Emmett mumbled and climbed into the car, sitting down right next to little Alice. Seeing that he was blocking his brother's rear view, he grabbed his sister by the waist and lifted her up before sitting her down on his right side. Then he scooted onto the seat she had just been occupying and gave her a dimpled grin.

"That's better," he said as Alice just giggled, then he reached forward to switch the stereo on.

Rose got in next to Alice and closed the door, and Jasper started the car.

They listened to music on the drive home, and Emmett was seemingly excited about the prospect of spending the day in Port Angeles again.

"Let's watch it again!" he called and glanced at Alice and Rose next to him to see what they thought of his idea.

"Nooo," Alice moaned. "Once is more than enough. I'm in the mood for a romantic comedy!"

"That sounds absolutely horrible, Alice!" he retorted, sounding appalled that she would even suggest such a thing.

"It's my turn to pick a movie!"

He snorted. "No, it isn't!"

"Well, _fine_, but it's definitely not yours. Besides, I already saw that we are going to watch a romantic comedy." She crossed her arms and grinned at him, but he just snorted again, calling her bluff. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, of course I did," she said confidently and winked as she saw her mate glancing at her through the rear view mirror.

Not having seen the wink she had given Jasper, Emmett suddenly started to doubt if Alice was indeed lying. Oh God, he would not be able to survive a chick flick, never ever. "Ah, you know …," he said and shrugged his shoulders casually. "I'm not really in the mood for a movie. Let's do something else."

But he didn't get an answer from Alice, because the car slowed down and came to a halt at the entrance of their path. While they had been bickering on the rear seat, Jasper had asked Edward if he should drive him up to their house so he wouldn't need to walk. But Edward had refused, and so Jasper hadn't asked again.

Edward grabbed his backpack, got out of the car and shut the door, still looking like a petulant child and only turned around when Alice said, "Don't worry, Edward, it'll be fine."

She climbed into the passenger seat to sit next to her mate, who grabbed her hand and squeezed it lovingly.

Edward didn't say anything, just nodded his head and gave Alice a long, suffering look like he was about to be beheaded.

Rose had no clue why he didn't speak, but she was completely okay with that. It was harder to ignore him when he was talking shit, after all.

"You'll see." Rose heard Alice say and saw how she reached out of the open window and patted Edward's shoulder, encouraging him to … go home? The idiot was grounded, so where's the big deal? It's not like he wouldn't deserve it ...

She looked in the opposite direction when they said goodbye to each other, and then Jasper pulled the car back onto the road and they finally drove off.

Rose knew Edward was still standing there at the side of the road, looking after them like a lost puppy. He was seeking pity again and it disgusted her beyond belief.

With a shake of her head she rid herself of the thoughts about her brother, as she had decided for herself that she would ignore him, and therefore ignore whatever thought about him might pop into her mind.

Jasper was, spurred on by Emmett, driving a lot faster than before and they made it to Port Angeles in less than an hour. As they had no clue what to do in that little town, they headed for the movie theatre again and once Jasper found a spot and parked the car, they got out.

On the drive to Port Angeles, Alice had called Esme and told her where they were, so they could meet up and spend the day together. It only made sense, especially after Alice had let out several gasps during the drive. It wasn't peculiar to see her having visions, but it was weird that she had gasped while having them. After she had assured her mate and siblings that nothing bad was going to happen, Emmett started smirking and then practically bombarded her with questions. He was sure that little Eddie must have done something, and he was determined to find out as he loved a good story and having a good laugh. Despite Jasper's request to leave her alone - he had already experience with Emmett's curiosity and knew he wouldn't stop - Emmett continued pestering Alice und he was suddenly too exhausted to speak. He tried, of course, but his speech was all slurred and they had no clue what he was talking about.

Oh well, he had asked for it … at least it only lasted a few minutes until they had finally reached their destination where they were now waiting for their mother to arrive. It had been raining for at least half an hour, and so they decided to head for the side of the theatre where the roof was overhanging the sidewalk.

"Geez, Jazz, vampires don't sleep! How the heck can you make me sleepy?" Em asked curiously.

"You were relaxed, not sleepy," Jasper corrected with a grin while retrieving an umbrella from his backpack and opening it to protect his wife from the rain.

Emmett, smirking at that gesture, shook off his jacket and held it over Rose's head, so she would also be safe from the rain. He was so proud of himself, because he seemed more gentlemanly now, or at least that's what he thought.

"How would you know? I swear I was sleepy," he told his brother.

Jasper laughed as he guided Alice over to the side of the building. "How would_ I_ know? I made you feel that way, that's how I know."

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to misuse your ability like that," Emmett said and punched his arm playfully.

Jasper let out a grunt as his brother's fist connected with his upper arm, then he started rubbing at the smarting spot. "And I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to pester my sweet Alice about something that is clearly none of your business."

"But … _come on! _I know I'm not the only one who wants to know! Just admit it, bro."

"Emmett, stop, I won't tell you. Besides, _Mom's here!_" Alice chirped and took a step to the side to be able to look past her big brother.

Rose and Emmett turned around as they saw their father's Mercedes pull into a free space and then heard Esme kill the engine. She got out a moment later, locked the doors and let the keys drop into her purse.

"No. way.," Rosalie muttered under her breath while she stared at her mother, who approached them with quick steps.

A smile lit up Esme's face as she reached them standing under the roof. "The rain is getting heavier!" she said and ran a hand through her caramel coloured hair to make sure it wasn't dishevelled from the rain. "Hello, my dears. Shall we go for a little walk first?"

Before anyone could say something, her smile faltered and she looked questioningly at Rose, who was scowling at her.

Rose let out a snort and folded her arms across her chest. "You have got to be kidding me ..."

"What's wrong, Rosalie?" Esme asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

Rose gasped in disbelief at that stupid question. "It's _raining_!" she exclaimed.

"Oh," Esme said and opened her purse, then started rummaging through it in search of the car keys. "I think I have an umbrella in the car somewhere … let me get it for you."

"_What?!_ I don't want you stupid umbrella, Esme!"

"Rose …," Emmett whispered in hopes she would catch the pleading in his voice. His dear wife was heading for disaster if she continued to speak to Esme that way. And he was right, because Jasper as well as Alice looked at Rose with an urgent look in their eyes.

But Rosalie did not look at them, her eyes were fixed on their mother, who withdrew her hand from her purse and suddenly became serious. "Rosalie, there is no need for you to-"

"How dare you drive the car when it's scratched? Have you lost your mind?!" Rose had a lot of pent-up frustration to release ... and she chose this moment to do so.

Several pairs of eyebrows shot up as Rosalie said that, only Esme's expression did not seem to change. She continued to look at her fuming daughter while reaching into her purse again and retrieved her wallet.

"All of you, go inside and get the tickets," she said and placed her wallet in Alice's hand.

"Mom,-" "Go inside, Emmett,_ now_," she said authoritatively without looking at any of them, because she and Rose were obviously set on trying to stare each other down.

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled and scurried after Jasper and Alice, who had realised that it would be wiser to just do what they were told and not say a word.

Judging by the emotions he received, Rose was very unhappy with Esme, and she was determined to let her know. And Esme was feeling just as unhappy with the way her daughter was speaking to her, and she would not let it happen again.

As soon as the three rounded the corner, Esme drew a deep breath before she said, "You do not speak to me that way, Rosalie. If something upsets you then talk to me in a civil manner, but the tone you have just taken was more than just disrespectful."

Rose, completely unfazed by the rebuke, lifted one eyebrow. "The scratch will_ rust_."

So Rose was not finished yet.

Esme shook her head in disbelief. "What has gotten into you, Rosalie?"

Taking a quick look at Carlisle's car again, Rose focussed back on her mother standing in front of her. There was a fire in her eyes, fuelled by anger, annoyance and frustration. "What has gotten into _me_?! What has gotten into _you_! You cannot drive the car around in the rain when I haven't fixed the scratch yet! It's right down to the bare metal!"

"Rosalie-" Esme said forcefully, but Rose interrupted her as she must have lost the last ounce of respect for her mother. "If we had black car paint or at least nail polish, I would have done it already. Unfortunately we don't have any of that. And so - instead of driving my car - you just take the Mercedes and ruin it. Great."

"Rosalie, enough. There is no need for you to get upset about a car. The scratch is minimal and I will take it to the garage to let it get fixed as soon as I have time."

"What? It is NOT minimal and I can fix it today if we get the paint!"

"You will not fix it, I will take it to the garage soon," Esme told her and hoped her daughter would catch the finality in her voice. She was definitely not going to stand here and let Rose talk to her like that, and she was seriously that close to taking her home. But as Carlisle had asked her to give him and Edward time to talk, she couldn't do that.

Rose stared at her mother. _Esme would take it to the garage?_ But they only did that when she couldn't fix something or wasn't home! Didn't she trust her to be able to fix it? She had proved many times that she was a skilled mechanic and was more than capable of making dents and scratches disappear. "Don't be ridiculous, I can-"

"Rosalie, it's enough! I said No!" Esme said in a fierce whisper to make sure they wouldn't be overheard. She was trying to keep her daughter from causing a scene, as she wasn't too fond of the idea of attracting onlookers - they wouldn't exactly help the situation.

Rose's eyes widened. What the heck was going on? Was Esme pissed because she didn't do it when they got home from Port Angeles last night? Or maybe because she hadn't thought of stocking the – _Oh_. Oh, _that's_ what this is about. Esme didn't want her help ... she thought so little of her by now, that she wouldn't let her touch Carlisle's car.

Wow.

Swallowing the anger and the pain of rejection that was building up inside of her, she suddenly broke eye contact and hung her head. There was no point in arguing any further, as Esme had made it clear that she didn't want her help - she wanted to show her that she wasn't needed. Heck, not even her car was needed ...

Esme watched her daughter's stance change, and was glad that Rose had stopped now before her outbursts would have to have consequences. "Can we go inside now and join the others?"

"Yes," Rose whispered in a barely audibly voice. Unfortunately Esme interpreted the rejection and defeat in her tone as annoyance, and so she cleared her throat to make her daughter look up at her.

"Rosalie, I am warning you. Any more lip from you and you can spend the next two weeks in your room, is that clear?" she asked strictly and gave her a sharp look.

It was so hard for Rose not to yell at her or just stomp off. In a matter of seconds her day had gone from bad to worse, and there was nothing she could do about it. While she looked at her mother, who clearly expected her to give her an answer, she realised that this trip to Port Angeles was a ruined now – just like the day before. But she knew how much her siblings and Emmett had been looking forward to go to Port Angeles again, and so she tried to swallow the bitter taste of rejection and anger and told Esme was she knew she wanted to hear. "Yes. And I am sorry for talking disrespectfully to you, it won't happen again."

Esme nodded, and immediately her voice was soft again. "Come, let's not make them wait any longer."

To make sure that Esme wouldn't try to link arms with her or the like, Rose turned around and hurried towards the entrance of the theatre. She was already trying not to show how she was feeling right now, but playing best friends with Esme in front of the others was just not possible. Besides, they already knew what had happened, so no need to pretend everything was fine like Esme would want to.

Everything in the entrance hall was just like the day before ... the smells, the lights, the people. It wasn't completely crowded at that time, but the loud chatter and laughing of the people made it seem as though it was.

Rose found Jasper, Emmett and Alice easily, as they had chosen to stand next to the ticket counter to wait for her and Esme. They looked up when she walked over to them with a steely expression on her face - she didn't want to show how she was truly feeling at that moment.

Despite Alice's usually bubbly self and Emmett's vivacious nature, none of them looked like they were having awfully much fun. Rose groaned internally when she saw that and tried to soften her features a little so she wouldn't be the one to ruin their day. _Great_, she thought, _now everybody is feeling down._

"Hey," she said when she reached them, and immediately felt Emmett putting an arm around her shoulders while he placed a soft kiss on her temple.

"Are you all right?"

"I am," she replied and glanced at Alice and Jasper, who eyed her carefully. Alice handed Jasper two of the five tickets, then looked past Rose and straight at Esme, who stepped up to them at that moment.

"Which movie did you choose?" Esme asked and both Jasper and Alice looked at her. Rosalie was glad about that, because the look her siblings had given her, had made her feel a little nervous. _What do they know?_ Their gifts always let them know things she had no clue about ... and something was wrong here.

Alice took a few steps until she reached her mother and handed her her portemonnaie. "A romantic comedy," she said with a broad smile, "it was Emmett's idea."

Before Emmett could say something in his defence, because he would _never! _choose a movie like that, Esme had already gasped and turned to look at him. "That's a fantastic idea, Emmett! A comedy is just what we need, am I right?"

The boys mumbled "Yeah ..." and "Sure ...", while Rosalie remained silent. She had half a mind to just turn around and spend the next two hours standing outside in the rain instead of sitting in the same room as Esme, watching a supposedly funny movie. But maybe that was what Esme wanted ... and that's why she followed after them when they headed for the screening room.

"Rose," Jasper whispered and gave her a look that implied that he needed to talk to her for a moment.

She patted Emmett's hand to make him withdraw his arm, then took a few steps to the side to meet up with her brother. Together they watched the others vanish into the room, then Rose turned to look at him questioningly.

"Hm?" she asked.

"Rosalie ... I know it's not my business, but I was wondering if I could be of any help."

Her face scrunched up in confusion. "Help?"

He nodded his head. "I know that you're feeling angry and dejected right now, and so I wanted to ask you if you would like me to-"

"_Don't you dare meddle with my emotions or I swear to God I'll slap you!_" she snapped, her eyes blazing.

_How dare he?!_ He knew perfectly well that she hated it when he influenced her, no matter his intentions. She was definitely feeling like shit right now, but that was no one's business but hers! And what good would it do if he relieved her of that?

He took a step back as her anger flared, holding up his hands in a placating manner. "I just wanted to offer," he replied, sounding slightly hurt that his good intentions had been immediately beat down. He hadn't meant to insult her - he was just trying to make the rest of the day a little more bearable for his sister. Despite her cold facade she was clearly sad and suffering, and it was hard for him to know that she was when he could easily change it.

Jasper turned away from her and headed for the room, when Rosalie suddenly groaned and Jasper felt her frustration peak. "Jasper ... I'm sorry."

He stopped and glanced at her, seeing the pleading look in her eyes.

"I did not mean to say what I said ... you were only trying to help."

He nodded his head, then turned around to face her completely. She was frustrated with herself and regretted what she had said and how she had said it - he could hear it in her voice and feel it through her emotions. "I won't do it without your consent, that's why I asked you. Just thought you could do with a little break," he stated.

"I know. It's not that I don't appreciate your offer, it's just that it wouldn't be right. I feel the way I feel for a reason, and I need to deal with it on my own," she explained.

He just looked at her, then slowly nodded his head. "I understand. But just know that if you ever need any help-"

"- I will let you know," she completed for him and gave him a little smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now come ... Emmett will rip my head off if he has to endure this on his own," he said with a smirk, then offered his arm to her.

* * *

**Before you get mad at Esme - she has her reasons why she doesn't want Rose to fix the scratch. It's stupid, but there's nothing I can do about it. Tzk, vampires ...  
**

**But Jasper was being so helpful in this chapter *sigh* He's growing on me ;-) I'm still working on a term paper, but I hope I can post the first chapter of Jasper's story this weekend. We'll see.**

**Please feel free to review, guys!**

**(Oh, ****Happy 2013 everyone! Hope everyone's year started good!**)  



	8. Chapter 8

The moment they left the movie theatre, Esme had received a call from Carlisle, telling her it was safe to return home now and that Edward was waiting for her. No need to say that she wanted to leave immediately to coddle her son like she always did. She quickly climbed into the scratched Mercedes and this time Alice was sitting in the passenger seat next to her, calming her all the way to Forks.

Rose was riding with Emmett and Jasper, and the hour-long drive was the first time that day that she felt like she was actually having a good time.

Maybe she just needed to go on a hunt … get some fresh, hot blood to calm her nerves and give her the strength and patience to endure yet another day. She usually wasn't that passive and withdrawn when something bothered her that much, but this time she just hoped that this way she would be able to forget about it sooner and nobody would find out how hurt she truly felt.

Driving up the path to their home, Rose was already thinking about what she wanted to hunt today. Then she shrugged dismissively - anything would be fine. Deer, mountain lion - heck, she'd feed off rabbits today if she had to. The burning in her throat wasn't sharp and painful like it usually became after two weeks when she needed to feed again. No, her last hunt had been two days ago, so currently the pain in her throat was just dull and lingering. She wasn't really thirsty, but figured that a little extra blood might make it easier for her to deal with her negative emotions.

They rounded one last bend in the drive and their house came into view. But not just the house, no, the black Mercedes was standing in the driveway and at seeing that, a low growl emitted from Rosalie's slightly parted mouth.

Jasper glanced at her through the rear view mirror with a concerned expression, hoping she would just ignore that their mother had parked the car in the driveway instead of in the garage. Who cared ... it wasn't hers, and as long as Carlisle was okay with it, then she should be, too.

Of course he knew why it upset her so, and he didn't want anything to quench that caring trait of hers, but right now the indignation was adding up to the anger and rejection she was feeling, and that was an explosive mix.

He slowed down while waiting for the garage door to pull up and used that time to give his brother a pointed look in hopes that he would get the hint and attend to his wife.

Emmett understood, because a moment later realisation shone in his bright golden eyes.

"Rosie?" Em called over his shoulder, "I feel like taking a run in the forest today ... stretch my legs a little, you know. Are you in the mood for some running?"

"Sure, I thought about going hunting anyways."

"Woohoo! Let's do both!" he cheered and grinned at her.

"Mind if I join you?" Jasper asked, a slight frown etched upon his face. He wasn't sure if he wanted to spend all night in the house with these emotions about. He would definitely go on a vacation with Alice as soon as possible to get a little break from his agitated family.

"I insist that you come with us," Rosalie replied with a smirk. _No empath should be forced to stay in a house with moody, whiny Edward ... that's just cruel._

They drove into the garage and the car rolled over Emmett's attempts of fixing the skidmarks, then Jasper parked the car in its designated spot. He was sure that Esme was still unhappy with the poor paint job Em had given the floor and that he would have to clean it up or get proper floor paint, but today was not the day.

They climbed out, but instead of heading for the door leading to the kitchen, they left through the garage door and walked across the lawn in the direction of the river and the forest.

The back porch came into view, and they saw Carlisle sitting on one of the wooden lawn chairs, a pondering look on his face.

Seeing him made Rose's anger and sadness flare, and she had to fight the urge to walk over to him and tell him what Esme had said to her a few hours ago. It wasn't fair that she wasn't allowed to fix the scratch, and it didn't make any sense. He had let her repair his car in the past, never doubting her ability and never fearing she would make a damage worse. He trusted her when it came to his car. Esme apparently did not.

It wasn't even _her_ car, and that was probably what made the whole situation worse for Rose.

Esme was making decisions concerning Carlisle's car … why?

But as she looked at her father sitting on the porch and breathing in the warm evening air, she did not want to bother him with something stupid as a scratch in his paint. Someone would take care of it, and as long as that person did a good job, it would be okay for her. Fine, it still annoyed her, but as soon as the scratch would be fixed, she would be able to forget about this.

She knew that Alice and Esme were home already, as they had just passed the black Mercedes standing in the driveway. But Esme was nowhere to be seen, which meant that she was indeed busy coddling Edward.

And she was probably trying to piss Rose off by parking the car outside where it would be unprotected of the weather. Sure, it wasn't raining right now, but the weather forecast had promised more rainfall in the early morning hours.

Rosalie waved over to her father, who lifted his head as he noticed them. He uncrossed his legs and sat up straighter, looking at her like he wanted to say something. She stopped and blinked at him, waiting a moment to see if he wanted to talk to her or if it could wait until they would be back.

"Hey Pops, wanna join us? Just some running and hunting, you know," Emmett called after having jumped over the river. He looked excited and happy while he grinned at his father, who suddenly shook his head.

"That sounds great, Emmett, but I'd rather stay here and wait for your mother."

"She's home already," Em remarked, looking at him weirdly like he couldn't understand how Carlisle could have possibly missed her arrival. The car was standing in front of the garage, his Mom's scent was in the air_ … oh well, Carlisle was getting old, there's no point in denying it anymore._

Carlisle smirked as he seemed to know what his son must be thinking when he would give him a look like that. "I_ know_, Em, but she headed for Edward's room as soon as she came home," he explained.

A broad grin spread over Emmett's face. Then a low chuckle came from his throat and he asked, "Oh, did ickle Eddie do something naughty again?"

Jasper acted before Carlisle could even think about reprimanding Emmett.

"I'll silence him, Carlisle, I promise!" he called, jumped over the river and landed on top of Emmett who had no time to evade his brother's attack. There was a loud banging sound as their bodies collided, and then they started rolling around on the moist grass, all the while throwing playful punches.

Rose let out a sigh and shook her head, then took a run-up and joined her brother and her mate on the other side of the river.

"Let's go, guys," she said and headed for the forest. Emmett rushed past her and Jasper followed him on his heels. Her hair flew with the gust of wind they created, and she smoothed it back down before stalking after them.

It didn't take long for her to find a deer and drain it, because she had chosen to hunt in a different area than Jasper and Emmett. These two hadn't stopped fooling around and had found it necessary to throw each other into trees and let out whoops of joy, and it had chased every living creature away – hopefully not forever.

Well, at least they were in a good mood, she thought, and checked the front of her shirt for blood splatters. Of course she couldn't find any, and so she stood up from the muddy forest floor. At that moment Jasper and Emmett bolted toward her with wind-swept hair and eyes that practically glowed with enjoyment.

Looking at them and taking in their appearance made it almost impossible not to laugh. Both of them looked like they had tried to eat mud – a lot of mud.

They grinned at her, teeth shining bright white against their dirty faces - she shook her head at that sight.

"The way you look, I'm pretty sure Alice won't let you enter her room, Jazz. Maybe you should go take a swim in the river," she suggested.

"Sure, why not," he replied and looked down at himself, laughing softly. But when he glanced at Em, he cracked up. "Dude, I won."

"You wish," Emmett snorted, then placed an arm around Rose's shoulders and hugged her to himself while giving her a loud, sloppy sounding kiss on the cheek. She tried to twist away from him, as she could feel the dirt that was covering his face suddenly rubbing off on her skin. Ugh, not even half a minute ago she had been glad that her shirt and face were still clean … and now she probably looked just like Emmett.

He chuckled when he felt her trying to escape his kiss, then let go of her and took a few steps backwards. Instantly his eyes widened as he realised what he had done, and he let out a short, nervous laugh. "Uh-oh," he whispered.

Rose saw that the front of her shirt was now crusted with dirt and when she looked back up at her husband with narrowed eyes, he took yet another step back to put a little more space between himself and his wife.

She dragged a finger across her cheek and looked at it with pursed lips. _Oh, you are so dead, Emmy-bear, you are so dead …_

She held her dirt-covered finger up for him to see, raising one eyebrow while looking at him.

All Emmett did was stare back at her, his eyes so wide that they threatened to pop out of their sockets.

"Run," Jasper whispered to him, thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere. Rose wasn't mad or annoyed – that had only lasted a moment before she had decided to join in the fun and give Emmett what he deserved.

Nodding his head fervently, Emmy then turned around and ran as quickly as his legs could carry him, leaving them only with the sound of rustling ferns and the snapping of twigs that rapidly grew fainter the deeper he fled into the thick forest.

But Rose was in no hurry. She lifted her right foot and took off her high-heeled boot, then she repeated the action for the other foot. Walking over to Jasper and handed them to him before pointing a finger lazily in the direction Emmett had left.

"That way, right?" she asked, her eyes showing the same amusement he could feel coming off her in waves. It was wonderful to see that she had chosen to forget about her schoolday and her little quarrel with Esme and just have fun instead. She really didn't need his assistance, and he breathed a sigh of relief that he finally wasn't forced to feel anyone's negative emotions.

"Go easy on him, Rose …," he said, but sounded like he didn't really mean it. Of course he didn't really mean it! Heck, Emmett had stuffed a handful of dirt down the back of his pants and now he had to run around with sand in his butt crack …

"Of course," she replied, "just want to make sure my little piggy-bear is taking a bath." She winked at him, then took off after her mate.

* * *

Almost an hour later and they climbed out of the river and walked across the lawn towards their home. They had fooled around in the cool water and now all three of them were dripping wet, soaked from head to toe, and their clothes were sticking to them like second skins. Still laughing, they marched up the stairs to the porch where a tiny pixie was waiting for them, a stack of white, fluffy towels in her arms.

"Oh, Allie, darling, why didn't you join us?" Jasper asked and gave her a kiss, then accepted the towel she was offering him.

"Hm." She shrugged her shoulder while wiping at her face to get rid of the droplets of water that had fallen from Jasper's wet hair. "You were almost out of the water when I left Edward's room."

"Let's go back in!" Emmett suggested and made to grab his little sister to carry her back to the river and dump her into the water, but she skipped out of his reach and into the house.

"No, that's quite all right, I'm wearing Armani." She smiled at him sweetly.

Emmett smirked and went after her, not noticing that he was getting the floor wet.

But someone else noticed.

"Emmett," they heard Esme call from the living room, "is that really necessary?"

"It's just water," Rose answered for her husband and stepped inside just like Em had done, leaving wet footprints behind. Who cared about water on the floor? If it bothered her that much, then she could mop it up – nobody would keep her from doing that.

Alice gave her a towel, so she could at least take care of her hair that was hanging down in wet tendrils around her head and shoulders.

"Just don't get the whole house wet, please. Dry off at the door and take off-"

"Like I would strip down here ...," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

Jasper and Alice gave her a look that implied she should just dry off and not say a word, while Emmett didn't really listen and just pulled his T-shirt over his head.

"Rosalie, I don't expect you to strip. Just take your shoes off please, and make sure not to get the carpet wet."

"Like you make sure not to get the scratch wet?" A brand new S55 really needed some rust, yes.

She had mumbled the words, but nevertheless, Esme had heard her say something. What exactly she had said Esme did not know, but she was not going to let Rose disrespect her yet again.

Esme got up from the couch and evaded Carlisle's hand who no doubt was trying to hold her back and ask her to let the children be, but she was quicker.

In an instant she was standing in front of her still dripping children and fixed Rosalie with a stern look.

"Rosalie," she said and put her hands on her hips, "is there anything you'd like to say to me?"

"No," Rose replied and continued to towel down her hair while turning around to look out of the window.

"Would you at least look at me? I'm talking to you."

But Rose wasn't interested in talking to her mother. What for? All she was going to do was yell at her and ground her or whatever else came to her mind. And that's why she didn't comply.

"Rosalie."

Rose felt angry that Esme wouldn't leave her alone. She felt really angry.

Forcefully she threw the towel to the ground before she spun around and put her hands on her hips while glaring at her mother. "I'm looking at you." When Esme didn't immediately say something, she lifted her shoulders and raised her eyebrows like she was waiting for her to speak.

Carlisle appeared in the room, walking up behind his wife and placing an arm around her shoulders, like he sensed that she might need support … or someone to calm her down. "What is going on?" he queried, looking in between his wife and daughter.

"You, young lady, can spend the rest of the night in your room. I have no idea where your insolence is coming from, but you better get rid of it and be on your best behaviour tomorrow."

"Esme-" Carlisle started to say, not understanding why she seemed so agitated and was so short with Rosalie, but he got interrupted by Rose who was clearly not happy with what her mother had just said to her.

"What did I do? I just came back a minute ago and you yell at me like a -" "Another towel, Rose?" Alice quickly asked and held it in front of her sister's face to make sure she would stop glaring at Esme. The visions that invaded her mind right now promised unfavourable consequences, and she just wanted to help Rose.

"I have towels in my bathroom, but thank you," Rose replied, then started to walk in the direction of the stairs. She knew what Alice had just tried to do, and so she decided that getting away from Esme would be the best course of action in order to avoid more trouble.

"Rosalie, come back here," Esme said, her arms folded across her chest.

"But I feel like spending the rest of the night in my room," Rose retorted without stopping or turning around. She could hear Carlisle whispering something to her, no doubt telling her to leave her alone, because Esme didn't call again and finally left her alone.

Jasper, not caring if he would get caught or not, started calming his mother gradually, the waves he send towards her keeping the same rhythm as Carlisle's hand that ran up and down his mother's upper arm in an attempt to distract and calm her. It was the perfect moment to do so, and Alice's little smile let him know that Esme wouldn't suspect him of influencing her with his ability.

* * *

Rose made her way upstairs, jolly well fed up with Esme's constant bullying. Yes, she started to feel bullied by her mother - what kind of a mother would do something like that?

And then - as though it wasn't enough - Edward was leaning with his back against the wall opposite her and Emmett's room, watching her through narrowed eyes. His hands were buried deep in the pockets of his jeans and he seemed to have been waiting for her. Why, she did not know and since she was still planning on ignoring him, she wasn't interested in finding out.

"Could you stop being so horrible to Esme? She hasn't done anything to you," he spat when Rose was just about to open her room door.

She huffed and hoped he would just shut his stupid mouth because she was still determined to not mind him on this day. That did not change, no matter if he talked to her or not.

She pushed the door handle down when she suddenly heard him mumble, "Conceited, little ..."

"What is your problem?" she hissed at the door - she had no desire to turn around and look at him. And her plan to ignore him just went to pieces, great. He was set on ruining everything for her - school, driving and the time she spend at home.

"You have no reason to complain about _anything_! But of course, if something doesn't go your way, you -"

"Stay out of my head," she growled, suddenly feeling like she was about to burst with all the pent-up anger, frustration and whatever else she was feeling at the moment.

"I don't need to be in your head to know what a beast you are," he told her.

"Better a beast than a vandal and a liar," she countered, hearing water dripping from her clothes and hitting the floor where she stood. Realising just how wet her hair and her clothes were, she made to push her door open to head for her bathroom, but little Edward obviously had a different idea.

"I did not lie about anything!" he snarled at her, his anger flaring.

_That again._ "Tell that to Esme, she's the only one gullible enough to believe your lies."

And then, like he felt cornered or insulted, he said, "Shouldn't you be in your room?"

This stupid lopsided smirk. She could hear that he was smirking, and it pissed her off.

She wheeled around, and Edward's eyes widened at seeing her doing so. He hurriedly took a step back to be out of her reach in case she considered throwing a punch or striking out at him.

It took him a moment to register the pain when his sore behind made contact with the wall.

A loud yelp escaped his throat, and his right hand immediately shot back to rub at the smarting flesh. His head snapped back up to look at her when he realised that he had just given away what had happened today while she and the rest of the family had been having fun in Port Angeles. Out of shock his mouth opened of its own accord, but he couldn't say a single word.

Rose just glared at him. She had no clue just what the hell he was trying to achieve by pretending to be in pain, but she would not give him the attention he craved. As if his butt would still hurt ... he got spanked the day before, _idiot_. And he wouldn't get any sympathy from her, he could get that right out of his head.

The sound of hurried footsteps running up the stairs met their ears, and not even a second later Esme came into view, followed by Carlisle and Emmett.

"What is going on here?" Esme asked frantically, approaching them with quick steps.

She noticed the death glare her daughter was giving her son, who was looking at Rose with a positively shocked expression on his face.

They turned their heads to look at her, and she put a hand over her heart before reaching it out to Edward and cupping his cheek tenderly. "What is it, Edward? Are you hurt? Talk to me."

"I'm fine now, Mom."

And Rose snorted with laughter. There was no way she could keep a straight face while listening to Edward lie and then Esme falling for it. It was impossible!

Emmett and Carlisle just looked at her with bewildered expressions, not knowing what had happened and what she considered to be so very amusing at this moment. But before they could ask her, Esme turned her attention to her and prompted, "Rosalie, explain yourself."

The laughter died in Rose's throat and she stared at her mother in disbelief.

Now that was seriously _unbelievable_. This idiot bumps his ass against the wall and she gets suspected of having attacked him?!

"There's nothing to explain. I didn't do anything," she snapped.

"Then why did your brother cry out in pain?"

"How would I know? Ask him!" Rose shot back.

Esme remembered having heard a noise like a thud before Edward had cried out. "Did you push him?"

Rose looked at her like she was kidding. She couldn't stand his presence, so why would she touch him? "_What?!_"

"Rosie, it's all right," Carlisle said, holding his hands up in a pacifying motion, then he turned to Esme. "Esme, love, nothing happened. Come, let's go for a walk, hm?"

"Edward is hurt and you expect me to just leave him now?" she asked him incredulously.

Rosalie had enough. Edward wasn't just trying to get her in trouble, no, he was also making their parents argue. "He's not hurt, he's just pretending to be and you fall for it!" she yelled at Esme.

"That's not true!" Edward exclaimed angrily.

_Have you no shame?_

Rose looked at him, then back at Esme. "You fall for it _every single time_!"

"Rosalie, lower your voice," Esme admonished, not liking how Rose was talking to her and how she was talking about her brother.

Raking a hand through her wet locks, Rosalie groaned in frustration at her mother's ignorance. "Argh, don't you get it? He's _fooling_ you!"

"Let's go get changed, Rose," Emmett whispered and made to put an arm around her shoulders, but she immediately shrugged him off.

"No, I'm sick of it! This is ridiculous!" She was fuming.

And Carlisle did not know what to do. He had no clue what must have happened before they came upstairs, but he needed to do something. Rosalie was angry at both Edward and Esme, Esme suspected her of having hurt Edward, and Edward was probably mad at Rose.

"Rose, please tell us what's going on," he said, approaching her with slow steps until he was standing right next to her. But before she could even utter a single word, Edward spoke up.

"I won't stand here and listen to her paint my name black. I'm in my room if you need me." and with that said, Edward stalked away from them and ascended the stairs noisily until they heard his door click shut a moment later.

Esme looked after him with worry written all over her face – she was hurting for her son, who had sounded so aggrieved and betrayed.

"Rosalie, I told you to go to your room and stay there," she said to her blonde daughter, then stalked down the hallway in the direction of the stairs - no doubt heading for Edward's room to see if he was all right. "And clean that up!"

"Carlisle!" Rosalie gasped when Esme had disappeared from view. _What the hell had just happened?_ All she did was speak the truth!

"Rose, come babe," Emmett said and reached past her to push their room door open. Everyone in the house was either confused or angry … and they were standing in a little puddle of river water. Standing here wouldn't help calm his precious wife down, and so he figured that the privacy of their room might be exactly what she needed right now.

"Rosie, sweetheart, I will talk to you mother again and -" Carlisle started to say in a soft tone of voice, but Rose didn't let him finish.

"And what? It's not like it would change anything," she said, her voice growing fainter with every word. Esme did not listen to her at all - she believed Edward's lies and ran after him to console him.

Emmett put an arm around her shoulders, and this time she didn't shrug it off. She leaned into him and let him guide her into their room.

And Carlisle just stood there in the middle of the empty hallway, a little unsure of what to do.

* * *

***sigh* I feel for Rose ... she was having fun and then _bam!_ it all goes downhill. But it was kinda necessary for the next chapters, you'll see. Thanks for reading!**

******Merci pour vos commentaires! J'adore les lire :-)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everybody, and thank you so much for your reading and reviewing!  
**

**But I have to tell you that I'm a little frustrated, because I wanted this story to be a 10 chapter story (just like Edward's, it's that parallel thing again), but somehow this story here will be a little bit longer than that. Maybe 11 or 12 chapters, I think ... ah, Idk. We'll see.**

**Enjoy the chapter!  
**

* * *

Even though it did not seem possible, Emmett managed to cheer his wife up a little. He was just so sweet when he tried to make someone smile, and he indeed succeeded. It was accompanied by an angry stomping coming from Edward's room above them, but they didn't let it disturb their togetherness. And in order to make the best of the time Rose couldn't leave the room, they decided to take a bath together, knowing that it wasn't just fun for them, but that it had a certain bonus effect: it would anger Edward and then he would leave them alone and stay out of their heads for the next few hours.

Privacy was something Rosalie craved at the moment … she had no clue why a brat like Edward had the ability to read minds. That had to be some big, cosmic joke …

He had used her insecurities against her, her weaknesses … all because he had been bored. He got whatever he asked for, _always_, and still thought it would be more entertaining to ruin everything for her. She didn't know where she felt more uncomfortable right now – at home or at school. She neither liked the looks Esme was giving her, nor the looks she received from the other students. Usually the looks she received from strangers were something she rather enjoyed … being envied by human girls and being adored by human boys – all because of her beauty. While it had spelled doom for her when she was still a human herself, it was now something that couldn't hurt her anymore. She was a bit vain, she knew that herself, but she had been born with these looks. It wasn't something she had chosen for herself, no. But why shouldn't she be comfortable with the way she looked? Why should she spend all eternity hating that part about herself? At first she had indeed hated it – as soon as she had woken up after the transformation, she had loved and hated it at the same time. Nothing had ever been that difficult for her. But that was years ago – now she had Emmett, she had a family, and she knew she was safe. She knew she could be a person she liked.

Maybe that's what Edward hated about her – that she felt comfortable in her skin. She lived the fairytale she had dreamed of – well, almost, but it was as perfect as it could possibly be considering that they weren't human anymore.

Edward on the other hand was convinced that he had no soul, that he was a despicable being, something that didn't find love because it couldn't. Even though he never said it out loud, she was sure that he wanted her to see herself just like that – and it angered him that she didn't.

Rose was lying on her side on the king-sized bed that was standing in their bedroom and rubbed a hand over her face as though stressed or exhausted. She had already picked out her clothes for the day, but did not feel like shedding out of her bathrobe and putting them on.

It was just so frustrating that Esme didn't realise how Edward treated her. He had no respect for her at all, otherwise he wouldn't fool her like that and not even feel the least bit guilty about it. Last night he had accused her of being mean to their mother - that's exactly what _he_ was doing! He knew he was Esme's favourite and so he used it to his advantage without feeling any shame about his behaviour.

At least she had the support of Em and Jasper ... it didn't help with her predicament, but it felt good to know that the others agreed with her that Edward was taking this a bit too far. Even Carlisle seemed to know that something was wrong, but he was still a little lost. He had asked her again if she would like to talk, but she had said No. No, talking wouldn't help, it wouldn't change anything and it wouldn't make her feel better. How could humiliation help her now? It would only serve to crush her completely – probably not what Carlisle had in mind.

He had mopped up the puddle in front of their room and also the wet footprints in the hallway.

Just like that.

As soon as she had heard him doing so she opened her door to protest, but he wouldn't have any of that. It seemed like he was doing whatever he could to show her that he was genuinely concerned and needed to keep himself occupied so he would stop thinking about it too much – but she might be wrong. Maybe he was just beating himself up because he had punished Edward the day before. Maybe he was just missing spending time with Esme, now that he was working double-shifts again and Esme was spending so much time in Edward's room, trying to make him feel better. Or maybe he just wanted to help Emmett, so he wouldn't have to clean up in case she didn't feel like doing it.

She really needed to sort through the jumble of thoughts racing through her mind as it was making it hard for her to concentrate on anything, and to find the calmness she needed for this new, equally stressful day. But she failed miserably and then stopped trying as she was only growing frustrated with herself.

A glance at the clock on the bedside table told her that she didn't have much time left until they needed to leave for school. Begrudgingly she sat up on the bed, then ran a hand through her hair before getting up and walking into the bathroom to get changed. She put on her clothes and applied some make-up, then emerged from the room again and collected her books that lay scattered all over the sofa in one corner of their room. Emmett had looked through her things in search of his own books and notes, until he had realised that he had left most of his things at school the day before. That was Emmett.

She opened the door of her room and stepped out into the hallway … and instantly felt like turning around again. A sense of foreboding hit her, like this day would be worse than the last ones, and it made her stop for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, because she was sure that her strained nerves were to blame for that.

Slowly making her way down the stairs - there wasn't much enthusiasm left in her - she reached the living room, where Emmett was sitting on the couch watching the news with Alice and Jasper while Carlisle and Esme stood off to the side, talking. Apparently Esme wanted to spend another day trying her best to ruin Carlisle's car and loading bark mulch and flower soil into the trunk so she could get started on her garden. Rose had half a mind to tell Esme that she could use her car, but then decided that she didn't want a dirty trunk. Besides, Esme should see what would happen if she drove a scratched car around.

"There you are, babe! Are you ready to leave?" Emmett asked, glancing at her over his shoulder with a smile on his lips.

She nodded to him and watched them get up from the couch and then walk in the direction of the kitchen. They said good bye to their parents, then waited in the garage for Edward so they could leave for school.

* * *

With her eyes closed, Rosalie let out one long breath while she leaned against the cool tile wall in the girls' restroom.

She should have known that going to school was a bad idea on a day like this. She was growing more and more agitated by the second, all eyes were on her, people were whispering ... it was driving her insane.

The last two days hadn't let her take a break, and that's why the situation at school was so hard for her to endure now. She had survived lunch time by spending the time outside with Emmett, away from the other students. But now that she was facing the next classes on her own, she felt very tempted to just skip and leave school early. It's not like she would miss anything and have trouble catching up ... and she was sure Carlisle would understand and excuse her absence. He had done so often enough ... maybe not that early into term, but she knew he wouldn't say No if she asked him.

Rose pushed away from the wall and turned to look at herself in the mirror hanging above the sinks. Her eyes were slightly darkened, she noticed, but not because of hunger. Just last night she had fed, more than she had actually needed, and the burning in her throat was minimal. No, this was the emotional turmoil she was experiencing lately – and she didn't like seeing it show in her eyes. Looking herself in the eye for a moment, she made a decision.

Yes, she would leave now ... all she wanted was some time to herself, but that wasn't possible while she was here. There was no use in trying any longer – only a decent break would help her collect the strength and courage to come here again and endure the stupid stares and rumours without suddenly ripping everyone apart.

She nodded to herself, threw her hair back over her shoulder, then stalked from the room and in the direction of her locker, where she collected her bag and books and pocketed her cell phone. A thought struck her and she stopped for a moment.

_Should I call Emmett? Or maybe Jasper?_

But they were probably already sitting in class together, and it would seem weird if they would get up now and leave. No, she'd send them a message later on and tell them they wouldn't need to wait for her after school. Or maybe Alice would let them know.

With a sigh she shut her locker, then walked down the hall and out of the school building.

The fresh summer air hit her when she pushed the door open and she took a deep breath, instantly feeling better now that she was alone and away from staring eyes.

Walking across the parking lot, she headed for the forest. It was a shortcut home, but as she had planned on walking, it was still long enough to give her the time she needed to clear her head. The forest would protect her from curious looks and stupid rumours, nobody would be there to annoy or upset her. There were only the sounds of the forest - the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in the bushes as little animals would scatter as soon as she would come close. Well, at least they had enough sense to leave her alone … but all these sounds were incredibly calming to her.

It was so peaceful here - she felt like she could finally breathe.

Rose strolled in between the ferns and trees, listening to the rushing of the river which got louder the closer she got to their house. The distinct smell of home wafted over to her, faint at first, then getting stronger. That was the fun thing about being a vampire ... her senses were so sharp, she could find her way with eyes closed. Heck, she could find her way with eyes closed and ears covered.

Reaching their driveway, she stopped for a moment, contemplating whether she wanted to go inside or spend more time outside. She wasn't really in the mood for sitting in her room and getting yelled at or having to explain to Esme why she wasn't in school – what good would that do? Her presence obviously irritated Esme, and she didn't really feel at home here with that thought in mind ... and then she remembered something. Esme _wasn't_ home, and she wouldn't be for a little longer. Ha, she had the whole house to herself!

A faint smile crept upon her face as she walked up the stairs and opened the front door.

It was silent in the house, she was all alone.

Living in a family as big as hers made it almost impossible to actually have the house to oneself ... but right now she felt lucky.

She went up to her room to get rid of her books and shed out of her knit jacket that smelled too much of school. She didn't want to be reminded of it now that she was home and had the chance to relax for a bit. She really just needed a break from school. It was weird that she was already exhausted and sick of it so soon into term, but it was just as it was and she had to deal with it.

Standing alone in their big house with no one to talk to and a silence that started to become a little oppressing, she regretted not having asked Em to come with her. She had wanted to be on her own, thought it would be exactly what she needed, but obviously it wasn't. Having someone to talk to, or just someone who would keep her company would be quite nice now …

Oh well, she wasn't some scared little girl - a few hours of being alone was nothing she couldn't handle.

Hm … if she could at least do something to make her feel better and to bridge the time until the others would come back home … and then she knew. What irked her most was the way Esme treated her and fell for Edward's tricks. She didn't know how to change that, because Esme didn't believe her anyways, so it wouldn't make much sense for her to keep on trying.

No, but what she could do was fix the scratch in Carlisle's Mercedes. She could have told Carlisle that Esme didn't want her to do it, and then she would certainly have his approval. But telling him would have felt too much like tattling, and she wasn't really into that sort of thing (– unlike Edward). Besides, Carlisle needed a break and Esme needed less reason to treat her like an unwanted stepchild, so nobody would benefit from them arguing.

But right now she was home alone, Esme wouldn't return before the others would … she could get the necessary utensils now and then fix the scratch later that day. There wasn't much Esme would be able to do once it was fixed, and Carlisle wouldn't need to pay for the paint job. _And_ he liked it when she took care of his car, because he actually trusted her.

That would be the perfect surprise for him. It really wouldn't be fair to let him suffer for Edward's idiocy, so why not? Screw Esme's plan of taking the car to the auto shop ...

Making her way downstairs, Rose suddenly got the idea that perhaps she could take her car to get to the auto parts store … she didn't want to go to the local one and get some cheap paint. No, she wanted to do a good job and therefore she needed to leave Forks. Surely Alice wouldn't tattle on her, and as long as Edward had no proof, he couldn't do anything, either. But even if he would tell Esme - Rose couldn't care less. It was her right to drive her car, and she would do that now. And enjoy it.

Why should she care what Esme would have to say about that? She couldn't do anything right in Esme's eyes, so whatever.

Her eyes narrowed for a brief moment as she thought about where the spare sets of car keys might be. Normally they kept them in the living room, the kitchen or the entrance hall, so whoever might need a car could just help themselves without having to bother someone for the keys. Alice and Jasper didn't have their own cars, so they often made use of that.

She opened the upper drawer of the sideboard in the hall and whooped when she found her spare keys at the first go. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand while looking around, checking if anyone had heard her whoop like Em, but then quickly remembered that she was still the only person in this house at the moment.

She threw the keys in the air and caught them again, excited that she would be able to drive her little red beauty again and then fix her Dad's car so he wouldn't constantly be reminded of Edward's tantrums.

Immediately she headed for the garage and found her beautiful convertible. She would made sure it would be a quick tour, of course, but with this little bullet that was actually easier done than said.

She climbed in, enjoying the rich smell of the exquisite, black leather while she buckled up.

It purred when she turned the keys in the ignition, like it was happy to see her again – she smirked at that thought.

_Missed you too, baby ..._

* * *

Rose spent so much time looking at supplies that when she noticed the time, she really had to hurry. She quickly paid for her purchases, then left the store with hurried steps.

Jumping into her car, she drove in the direction of Forks. As she pushed the speed limit, she was getting gradually annoyed with the truck driving in front of her. She didn't hit the rush hour, but still, the streets were busy and that stupid truck was slowing her down like crazy. She didn't want to cause an accident while overtaking, and so she was bound to be patient despite having serious time pressure.

She accelerated when the truck finally decided to take a turn, and at that moment her phone buzzed. She reached for her bag lying on the passenger seat, and while she rummaged through the dark leather bag, a loud bang startled her and she gasped.

She looked up and couldn't keep a crude swear word from leaving her mouth as she saw just what had caused that noise.

A little stone or a screw or whatever had hit her windscreen, leaving a nice stone chip in the middle of the glass, right in her field of vision.

She drove on, of course, but she was fuming.

It didn't take long for her to reach home, and she parked the car in the leftmost spot right next to where Emmett's Jeep would soon be parked. Getting out of the car, she let her fingers run over the stone chip, cursing again that now her car was also damaged – and that the damage was so noticeable.

An uneasy feeling suddenly began to form in the pit of her stomach and it made her anger subside fairly quickly.

Uh-oh.

She wasn't supposed to drive the car, because she wasn't allowed to … how would she explain _this_? The chances that Esme wouldn't notice the stone chip were relatively small – heck, it would be little short of a miracle if she wouldn't notice.

Well, maybe the others would come home before Esme, and Emmett's Jeep was big enough to block Esme's view of her car. _Please let them come home before her …_

And as soon as they'd be here, she'd ask Jasper if he could help her out. He was the best brother in the world – he would surely help her. With that thought in mind she reminded herself that there was no need to worry about Esme finding out.

She stored the supplies in the closet to her left, knowing that soon she would need them. Having the right paint to fix the scratch made her feel a wee bit better right now – it was like a tiny burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Yes, as soon as that would be done, she could concentrate on ignoring Edward, the other people at school and just everything and everyone that only served to infuriate her.

She didn't want to be annoyed or frustrated or pissed off all the time. Life was too precious to spend it feeling like that – she'd rather have a good time. Was that a stupid thing to wish?

Quickly she was back in her room and waited impatiently for Emmett and her sibling's arrival. She remembered that she still needed to tell Em why she had left early – she knew he would have wanted to come with her. While she had been wishing that she had asked him to come with her before, she was now glad that she hadn't asked him to skip classes with her. If Esme detected that someone had driven the car, he would surely say that he had been the one who had taken the car for a spin. She could never let that happen, so it was good that he had spent the last few hours sitting in class with Jasper.

All of a sudden she heard the garage door pull up with a soft buzzing sound, and a smile lit up her face as she realised that her husband would soon be here with her. He'd be delighted to know that now everything would get better … and then she could sent Jasper off to get her windshield fixed. She knew he would help her if she asked him … and if he drove the car, it wasn't like anyone would suspect him or her of lying or withholding something, right? And even if the stone chip wouldn't get fixed today, Esme would think it had happened while Jasper had been sitting behind the steering wheel.

She got up from her bed and skipped over to her door, placing her hand on the door handle to open.

But when she heard a car driving into the garage, her eyes widened in horror as she realised that it wasn't Emmett's Jeep – it was the Mercedes.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun ... do you think Esme will notice? Hm.**

**And where the heck was Emmett in this chapter? O.O Well, maybe he has finally accepted that this story isn't about him ... or he's mad at me, who knows.**

**Oh! I wrote a little One-shot that I will post soon - it has something to do with this chapter :-) But don't read it if you are a huge fan of Eddiekins, kay?**

**Thanks for reading!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

Esme was having a wonderful day so far. She had spent hours at the home improvement store where she had ordered and purchased whatever she would need for her new garden. Knowing that she would have Edward's help brought a smile to her face, and she knew they would have a great time laying out the garden together.

On her way home she hummed to herself while she steered the car in the direction of Forks and her thoughts revolved around spending the next years in this area close to that little town. It was a good place for them – perfect to satisfy their needs. They were surrounded by woods with enough fauna to keep their thirst and hunting instincts under control. Their house lay on the outskirts of Forks, very well hidden in the forest, far enough away from humans to let them be who they were without constantly having to play their roles and having to act human.

Yes, this place was good for them.

Only her children made her worry. She wanted what was best for them, wanted to see them happy and well – but right now they didn't seem like they were enjoying themselves awfully much.

Edward and Rose were her little problem children. They weren't cut out for constant provocations – their personalities made it difficult for them to just shrug them off like Emmett could. And this time they were again well on their way of taking it too far – luckily she had made sure to end it before it could really get out of hand. The sooner they would stop, the sooner they would be able to calm down and just enjoy what the years would bring. Life was too precious to spend it making each other miserable.

She drove onto their path and followed the winding road until their house came into view. It emitted so much calm and quiet - it was a very serene place and she felt lucky that they could call it their home.

The garage door pulled up while she tried to decide when the right time would be to start on the garden, but a quick glance at the front yard and the side of the house told her that she couldn't waste any time. It just didn't feel completely like home yet, she realised, but almost. A blooming garden would give it the final touch.

Parking the Mercedes in its usual spot right next to Edward's brand-new Volvo, Esme sighed as she turned the engine off and enjoyed the welcoming quiet of the house. Being surrounded by noisy humans was tolerable, of course, but it could get a bit too much after a few hours and she was glad to be home again. And although she didn't always enjoy being alone in the house as she was a family person and therefore loved to have her husband and children here with her, she was glad to have a little time to herself. The stress of moving and the turmoil of the last few days were starting to wear her down.

Unbuckling herself, she climbed out of the car and made to walk to the trunk to retrieve her purchases when she suddenly caught a scent that puzzled her.

Rose was home.

There was no doubt in her mind as it was so fresh in the air and not as faint as the scents of her other children. Still, she sniffed the air to check if someone else had come home with her, but it was only Rose. Esme looked around to see if her eldest daughter was in the garage with her and that was when her eyes fell on something that puzzled her even more.

Heat waves were coming off the hood of Rose's car. With a deep frown on her face, she walked over to the red convertible and held her hand over the smooth hood, feeling the hotness of the engine against her palm through the painted metal.

If the engine was hot, then someone had been driving the car. She would guess it might have been Carlisle, who maybe got home early from his shift and then decided to drive to the store and back or to pick up Rosalie, but his scent was barely noticeable in the air and he would have called her.

And then something else caught her eye that made it apparent that he hadn't been the driver of this car - there was a chip in the windshield on the driver's side.

She knew it hadn't been there this morning, and she knew Carlisle would never borrow one of his children's cars and then return them in such a poor condition.

Esme retrieved her hand and crossed her arms over her chest.

She was not amused.

Carlisle was claiming that Edward was pushing his limits lately, but Esme had to say that their blonde daughter was the only one doing exactly that. Why else would she so blatantly ignore what she had been told? And why was she home and not at school?

Then she gasped as suddenly fear and worry crept into her chest, making her reach up to place a hand over her heart.

Did something happen to Rose?

With her emotions changing between worry about her daughter's well-being and irritation about her disobedience, Esme abandoned her purchases in the trunk of the Mercedes and stepped through the door into the kitchen. Who cared about the garden when one of her children might be unwell? She needed to find out what was going on.

But unfortunately her daughter was nowhere to be seen, even though she must have heard her arriving not even a minute ago.

Making her way into the foyer, she stopped at the newel post at the bottom of the stairs and placed a hand on top of it to steady herself while calling, "Rosalie? Come down here, please." It sounded neither scared nor angry, and she was glad that she was able to keep her emotions from showing in her voice.

It didn't take long and she heard the soft sounds of a door being opened and closed again, followed by light footsteps that came down the stairs.

Rose stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked at her mother. "Yes?"

"Come here, please."

So Rose walked on and raised her eyebrows expectantly when she was standing right in front of her mother like she had been told.

"How are you?" Esme asked while looking her up and down. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Good. Hearing her say that relieved Esme and she felt the worry drain from her as now she knew that nothing bad had happened.

"Is there something you need to tell me?" Esme queried, still a little confused as to why her daughter had come home early today. She was the only one here, and that also didn't really make sense. Or was this just about the car?

Rose gazed back at her, her expression unchanging. "No." Did she think she was home because of her? So they could ... talk or something? Ha.

Esme looked like she didn't understand. "Where are you siblings, dear?"

"At school."

"Did something happen that made you come home early?"

There was a bunch of things that had happened, but Rosalie did not feel like sharing. She knew Esme wouldn't listen or even try to understand and that's why she remained silent.

"Rosalie, answer me, please."

She let out a sigh before replying, "I just didn't feel like sitting in class anymore."

"You know I don't like that excuse," Esme said, shaking her head. "You may stay home or come home early if something happens, but otherwise we expect you to attend your classes without complaining and be the responsible person I know you can be. Going to school was your decision, Rosalie."

"I know."

"You got enrolled in Forks High and that means you have certain obligations that you have to fulfill. I think we can ask that much from you and your siblings - to act responsibly and be honest with us."

"Yes." Ha, as if Edward would ever be honest with her ... Esme was being delusional.

"I am glad that you agree with me. So let me ask you again: Why did you leave school early today?"

"I just told you."

"Rosalie."

But Rose just looked at her mother like that was her final answer and she would tell her anything else.

"Fine." Esme shook her head and sighed. "Now apart from you leaving school early for no good reason, is there something else you have to tell me? Please answer truthfully."

"No." She didn't _have_ to tell her anything.

For a brief moment Esme's jaw clenched in irritation. She hated lies and dishonesty, and her daughter was being the exact opposite of honest right now, so yes, she was getting exasperated with Rose.

She gave her yet another chance to come to her senses and admit that she had only skipped so she could drive her car behind her back, but no matter how long she waited or how intense her stare got, Rosalie didn't say anything. She just stood there, holding her mother's gaze like she was intentionally provoking her.

Provocation … always with the provocations. First with Edward, and now she was trying the same with her. Why was Rose testing her like that?

"All right, you had your chance, Rosalie," Esme suddenly said, sounding fed up. "I know that you drove your car, without permission I might add, and I am very unhappy about the fact that you aren't being honest with me, even though I gave you several chances to come clean with me."

"It's my car," Rosalie stated matter-of-factly.

"But I took your keys, because you lost the privilege of driving it," Esme explained, then gasped as a thought came to her mind. "Did you take the keys from my purse?"

Now that made Rosalie snort. So Esme wouldn't put it past her that she would steal from her? Wow, thanks. "I don't go through other people's belongings. I respect privacy unlike some other people in this house."

Esme, although she knew whom this snide remark was directed against, didn't think that rebuking her daughter for it would really make a difference or even matter at the moment. "Then how-"

"Spare keys, maybe?" Rosalie offered before it could get ridiculous.

Esme was positively shocked. The way her daughter spoke to her was more than just disrespectful, and that she took the other set of keys and blatantly defied her was just unbelievable. "You don't even feel bad about deceiving me," she stated disbelievingly.

"You took my keys for no apparent reason, so no, I don't feel bad and I don't regret it."

Esme stared at her for a moment, not knowing were this behaviour was coming from but she wasn't willing to tolerate it any longer. "Rosalie, I want you to go to your room and stay there. I will be there shortly."

That was the first time Rose's expression changed. Her eyes widened slightly, and even though she caught herself quickly and put her cold mask back on, Esme had seen it. "Esme, I-"

"_Go._"

The determination in her voice made Rosalie give her a look that was unreadable, before she turned around and ascended the stairs.

As soon as Esme heard her daughter shut the door to her room, she let out a groan and leaned against the newel post with her back.

_Why was Rosalie being so difficult?_ Her defiance and disrespect were really getting out of hand and she couldn't just ignore it and let this awful behaviour continue.

A faint sound of a powerful car engine could be heard, and as it got louder, Esme pushed away from the newel and smoothed her brown locks out of her face.

She really hoped that this day would be the last time they would have this kind of stress. Her children couldn't settle in and get comfortable in this new town and their new house as long as they were forced to spend several hours a day somewhere else after school, where they would have to keep themselves busy until they would be allowed home again.

The garage door pulled up and Esme quickly rubbed a hand over her face in an attempt to not let any tenseness show. She wanted to greet her dears with a smile and ensure them that everything was all right - there was no need to upset them or let them know what had happened. She was starting to feel miserable and having to send her children away again was only adding to that horrible feeling. But alas, she was a mother and with that came pleasant and also not so pleasant moments.

The door to the kitchen burst open, and judging by the sounds Emmett was the first one to enter the house. His footsteps were heavy and fast, like he was hurrying to see what was going on. His siblings were following after him, and when they rushed through the kitchen and stepped into the foyer, Esme lifted her head and gave her babies a smile. "You're home already! How was school?" she greeted them lovingly, giving them them her usual warm smile.

Emmett hesitated for a moment. He looked worried, his eyes were darting from his mother to the stairs and back, but he didn't say anything.

"School was good," Jasper answered as his wife and brothers didn't look like they were going to say anything and he felt a certain tension in the room that he hoped to alleviate by answering his mother's question.

"That is wonderful," Esme said and nodded her head slowly. Then it was silent for a moment, in which the smile disappeared from her face. She gave them an apologetic look instead of the motherly smile, and then realised that she better just inform them now. "I know that you won't be happy about what I am going to say now, but I have a favour to ask from you."

She took a breath so she could continue, but hearing Alice's silent gasp distracted her for a moment. She directed her gaze to her dark-haired daughter and saw just in time how she blinked her eyes a few times like she just had a vision.

Emmett, impatient as he could be, made to walk past his mother and in the direction of the stairs, but Esme reached out and held up a hand to stop him before he could leave the room.

"Emmett, stay down here, please."

He swallowed before looking at her, seemingly still unsure if he should ask something or if he should keep his mouth shut. "But I-"

"Rosalie is home, Emmett," Alice remarked and nodded her head when their eyes met. He hadn't been sure if Esme knew, and he didn't want to tip her off that Rosalie had been skipping. Not that it should be an issue, but seeing how much his wife and his mother were arguing lately, he wasn't sure what Esme would have to say about that now.

The tension left his face - he was relieved that his wife was here in this house and not somewhere where she would be all alone and he wouldn't be able to find her.

Again he made to walk on, but Esme's hand against his chest kept him exactly where he was.

"Emmett, no," she said softly but firmly, shaking her head at him to indicate that he couldn't go upstairs now to see her.

"Why?" he asked. It didn't make any sense to him that she wouldn't let him go find his mate, and so he looked at her with wide, troubled eyes, waiting for her to explain.

"Jasper and Edward, I would like for you to go on a little hunt," Esme said, looking at her two sons standing in the archway. Then she took her hand from her son's chest and placed it on his cheek. "Emmett, Alice? I need you two to go into town and -"

"Yes, I know. We'll do that," Alice replied before Esme could finish the sentence.

While Esme felt relieved that her children would comply with her request and spend the next few hours away from home, Emmett was even more confused than he had been before.

"What? Why?!" he asked, softly encircling his mother's wrist to guide her hand away from his face, then looking in between his little sister and Esme.

"I know that all of you would like to relax for a while after your stressful day at school, but I need to ask you to leave the house for a couple of hours."

"_Why?_ What happened? Is Rosalie okay?" he asked, his voice taking on a hint of worry or panic. Then he took another step towards the stairs and called, "Rose?"

"Emmett, she is fine," Esme assured and grabbed his arm so he wouldn't ascend the stairs to go to his mate.

"What's all this about? What's wrong?" he queried, unable to grasp why his mother wouldn't let him assure himself of his wife's well-being. If something had happened, then he needed to know. He was the first one who needed to know, always. "Rosalie?" he called up the stairs again.

"You need to leave now."

"Mom, come on, you cannot be serious," Emmett argued. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You two," Esme said while looking past Emmett to make eye contact with her two other sons. "Please go now."

"What are you keeping from me? I wanna know what's going on," Emmett demanded. He could easily push past his mother and run upstairs, and he was starting to consider doing just that.

"Rosalie and I have something to discuss, and I need you to give us some privacy," Esme explained calmly.

"Is she in trouble? Mom, I can guarantee you that this is probably just one biiig misunderstanding, really. If something had happened at school then please believe me when I say that it wasn't her," he said confidently - but he wasn't very convincing.

"Emmett-"

"It was me, okay? I did it."

She frowned at him. "Emmett, baby, I-"

"Rosalie is innocent."

A snort.

A tiny snort came from behind Emmett and he turned around to glare at his brother who had dared to make that disparaging sound while he was talking about his wife.

"What is so funny, huh? You know you and only you are to blame for this mess!" he snapped at Edward while his eyes darkened with the stress and anger that surged through him.

"Emmy, come," Alice pleaded, gripping onto his hand and feeling his fingers curl gently around her tiny hands. "Emmy, I'll explain to you. Come with me."

Her large, golden eyes looked up at him, and he stared right back at her, contemplating on what to do. But his anger subsided at that moment and he slowly nodded his head.

"Good." Alice sighed and smiled at him, then tugged at his hand to make him follow her to the garage.

_If you got my Rosie in trouble, dude, you will pay._

With these unspoken thoughts in mind and a low growl emitting his throat, Emmett let his pixie sister lead him out of the room to leave the unpleasant situation.

"We'll be back in a few hours, Esme," Jasper said, then slapped the back of his hand against Edward's shoulder to get his attention. "Come, let's go."

Edward swallowed hard when he turned his head back around to look at his mother. He had watched Alice and Em leave, and was now facing his mother standing in front of him.

Esme saw him fidget a little and look to the ground, and so she reached out and cupped his cheek. "Don't be nervous, dear, Emmett is just a little upset. He didn't mean what he said," she tried to assure him, and he slowly lifted his eyes to meet hers.

"_Come,_" Jasper said again, and the pointed look he was giving Edward was finally making him move.

Together they walked to the front door and after saying good bye to their mother, they left the house and shut the door behind them.

Rosalie and Esme were the only ones in the house now.

* * *

**Two more chapters! At least I think it's only two more ... it depends on Carlisle. Not sure if he wants to make another guest appearance in this story. But I can ask him if you want ;-)  
**

**Guys! Thank you so much for reading and leaving reviews, love you all!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone!**

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I swear, I'm so happy that people give me the chance to make a Rosalie/Esme-story - it just wouldn't be the same without your support. I know that a lot of people don't like Rose and don't care much for Esme, but I really enjoy exploring their relationship. Thanks :-)**

**BUT (uh-huh, it's important) I want all of you to read the warning in the description again. If you have a problem with what you find in there, then you shouldn't continue reading this story. Just wanted to remind you.**

**Now go ahead and read the chapter!**

* * *

Rosalie sat in her room and cursed under her breath as she thought about the horrible turn this day had taken. All she had wanted was get some time to herself to calm down and not be looked down on or talked crap about. She wanted to fix the scratch in the paint that irked her so much - working on cars always calmed her and it would be nice to do something for her stressed-out father. So she had willingly ignored the fact that she wasn't allowed to drive. Hey, she had been falsely accused of something she hadn't done, so what was she supposed to learn from her mother's punishment?

Exactly.

Too bad that Esme was home now and had realised that she had done what she wasn't supposed to do. The consequence was that she had managed to get herself in trouble.

Maybe she should have tried lying her way out of it, but that wasn't really her thing. If you get caught red-handed, then don't be an idiot and make it worse by trying to lie your way out of it. If Jasper had come home before Esme, then they would have managed to fool Esme – the thought that Rose might have defied her would have never crossed her mind. But that wasn't possible any more.

So where was the point in lying when you know that you are caught?

Rosalie huffed as she pulled her legs up onto the bed she was sitting on and she was feeling her anger level rise once more. She had taken the car because she was sick of Esme's stupidity, so why shouldn't she let her know? There was no point in denying it – and she wasn't like Edward. Edward who was a born liar, who played their mother non-stop, never caring that it might cause her and Carlisle to argue – he just didn't care about anyone but himself.

She didn't want to be like that and manipulate anyone. It would be incredibly easy to play Carlisle, she was aware of that, but he would do anything for her anyways and she didn't even need to ask for it. She could have told him what was bothering her – but she couldn't let him get involved.

But of course, now that she was back in her room, waiting for Esme to come up here and no doubt scold her again like there was no tomorrow, was making her regret it a little that she hadn't opened up to her father. But only a little, because she still didn't really want him to know.

She blew a lock of her golden hair out of her face and lay down, closing her eyes for a moment. Listening to the air streaming in and out of her lungs, she tried to find a rhythm that would serve to calm her nerves and soothe her angry thoughts.

Could this day get any worse?

With her luck – yes. Yes, it could get a lot worse and she had a feeling that she knew exactly what Esme had in mind to do once she would enter this room.

It did take a lot to push Esme that far that she would raise her voice or punish anyone, and she was aware that she hadn't been on her best behaviour - but maybe Esme should be fair this once and take into consideration what had led to this.

She would still have her keys if Edward hadn't decided to be selfish and stupid, and she would still have her keys if Edward hadn't lied to Esme.

But no, she was the bad one here. The rotten egg. The stirrer.

The agitation and slight nervousness made it impossible for her to lie still on the bed and concentrate on her breathing or anything that would get her to relax a bit.

So she got up from the bed again and started pacing the room, her hectic steps mirroring the turmoil of thoughts that kept her from thinking clearly.

When she walked past the window, she detected movement out of the corner of her eye and she turned her head to see what was speeding towards their house. A sigh of relief escaped her and she felt her lips stretch into a smile when she saw her husband's Jeep racing up the path – soon she would be able to see Em.

She would have to apologise that she didn't ask him to come with her, but she was – now more than ever – glad that she hadn't. She just couldn't let any more people get involved in this, especially when it came down to showing how perfect Edward was and how horrible everyone else was behaving lately.

Better her than Emmett.

All of a sudden she heard him call her name and she wheeled around, looking at the door expectantly – but he didn't come in.

She waited for the door to open and be able to enfold her mate in her arms, but then realised that she hadn't even heard him come up the stairs.

It confused her.

She didn't want to anger Esme further, and since she was supposed to stay in here, she couldn't just walk downstairs to greet her mate. But why didn't he just come up here?

_Come on, baby, it's just a few steps …_

Seeing him now would make her feel better, she knew it. And when he called again, she was close to forgetting what Esme had said and just run downstairs, but hearing her mate's booming voice thunder at Edward made her stop dead in her tracks.

Her shoulders slumped and she felt sadness wash over her as she realised that she wouldn't see him anytime soon. But what was even worse – she didn't know what would happen to him now.

_Oh Emmy, please don't get yourself in trouble as well …_

It quickly became silent in the house once more and she hesitantly sat back down on the bed, the fingers of her right hand nervously playing with the exquisite necklace hanging around her neck while she hoped that Emmett hadn't done anything stupid.

* * *

Esme watched her two boys leave the house and shut the door behind them, following her request to grant her and Rose time to have a discussion that was long overdue.

But with them gone now, she stood there in the empty foyer, feeling the silence in the house weigh down on her, almost too heavy to bear. There was an uncomfortable tension in the air, and it added to the usual unwillingness she was feeling whenever it came down to punishing one of her children when they had done wrong. Knowing that she couldn't change anything but had to follow through with what needed to be done, she couldn't help but rub a hand over her forehead and exhale slowly in an attempt to hopefully alleviate a little bit of her discomfort.

She knew she had to do something so that Rose would finally realise that she had overstepped the mark and better get a grip on herself, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. Rosalie was showing atrocious behaviour, and it was making her as well as everyone else miserable. So Esme needed to put an end to it – for all of them. It was never good to not hold the children accountable when they knew that they had crossed the line – it confused them and then made them grumpy because they didn't know what to expect. So now it was on Esme to restore order in their home.

Calling Carlisle was definitely not an option. She knew how he loved coddling his girls and that he wouldn't do anything about the way Rosalie behaved because he didn't recognise it as bad behaviour. She could already hear him tell her that he would talk to Rose and that she would do better from then on, but he wasn't home as much as she was, and he didn't see how Rose was behaving towards her.

The girl needed to realise that she was her mother and not some pushover, and that there were rules in the house that had to be followed. Rose couldn't just bend them to fit her needs. She couldn't just make others miserable to make herself feel better. That had to stop.

Sitting down on the stairs, Esme let out a long breath, hoping that way she would get rid of her lingering unwillingness and find determination instead. She was determined, sure, but she needed to make sure she would stay determined and not cave in with the first meek apology muttered by her unruly daughter. What good would it do if she backed down now?

Feeling that she couldn't prolong this any further – for Rose's sake and for hers – she placed a hand on the banister and pulled herself up into a standing position. The phone lying on the sideboard caught her eye, but she quickly dismissed the thought of calling her husband again and slowly made her way upstairs to teach her daughter that disrespect and disobedience would not be tolerated. Just like the habit of teasing her brother – a punishment that would make an impact on her daughter was long overdue.

Knocking lightly on the door, she didn't get an answer at first. But after a moment a very soft, annoyed-sounding groan could be heard, before Rose said, "Yes, Esme, please do come in."

Esme entered, but did give her daughter a sharp look in warning. She really wasn't making this any easier for herself and Esme wanted to remind her that she should really learn to think before she would speak at times like these.

She shut the door with a soft click, then leaned against it and crossed her arms.

Rosalie held her gaze as they were just looking at each other for a minute, neither one saying a word. The ticking of the clock on the bedside table was the only sound in the room, marking the passage of time.

When the silence between them became too heavy however, Esme couldn't keep quiet any longer.

She drew a slow, deep breath and asked, "Did you use the time to think about your atrocious behaviour?"

"You only told me to go to my room and stay there, so that's what I did," Rose replied, unable to keep herself from reacting the way she just did. She was stressed and didn't feel well and knowing that she was in even deeper trouble now was making it worse. If Esme wouldn't be so damn naïve and believe whatever Edward said, then she wouldn't be in this situation now.

"Rosalie-"

"No, Esme," Rosalie cut right through her mother's rebuke. "This is ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with me driving my car. I didn't hurt anyone or get a ticket. You cannot just take my keys away just because Edward needs to wait until he can drive, I refuse to accept that."

"You know why I took your keys," Esme remarked with a sigh.

"Yes, because Edward lied to you."

"No, Rosalie," Esme replied and shook her head, "because _you_ lied to me. And because you cannot seem to keep that attitude of yours in check or leave your brother be."

"You know what? I think we should get the others here and ask them what they think about Edward's unique interpretation of honesty. Go ahead and give them a call."

"You are in no position to make any requests, Rosalie."

That sounded serious. Rosalie knew that tone and the look, and it did not bode well. _How could Esme be so blind?_ She was still convinced that she was just trying to pin all the blame on Edward. But that wasn't true. Esme needed to know what was happening right under her nose, but she refused to accept that her favourite was anything but perfect.

So Rose needed to do something so this unfairness would stop, and she hoped Esme would agree.

"Esme, please, I would like to wait for Carlisle to come home. I …," she said, then looked down and sighed, before lifting her head again to gaze at her mother. "I'll talk to him." It was incredibly difficult for Rose to say that she would do that, knowing that she would have to follow though with it, but maybe that would help solve this problem. She needed to swallow her pride and be vulnerable.

Esme frowned at her. "You know your father is at work. I'm here now and I expect you to listen to me and show me the same respect that you show your father."

Rose just raised an eyebrow at that. Argh, she felt like she was having the mood swings of a newborn … _anger, sadness, annoyance, disbelief, frustration and many more._ At least she managed to keep her mouth shut this time.

"If he had taken your keys, would you have defied him?"

Rose broke eye contact with her mother and glared at the floor instead. "That is different."

"No, it isn't," Esme replied and pushed away from the door. "The only thing that is different is that you would never speak to him the way you speak to me."

"That's because he isn't unreasonable."

_Oh no._

That had definitely been the wrong thing to say, Rosalie realised, as Esme suddenly drew in a sharp breath, then placed her hands on her hips. She was fed up.

"I've had it with your snide remarks, the disrespect and your attitude, Rosalie," she said strictly. "I have no idea where it is coming from and why you think it would be all right to talk to me like that, but it will stop today. Am I understood? Stand up."

Esme could see the colour drain from her daughter's face and was glad that the girl finally understood that she wasn't joking. "Esme, that is-" Rosalie said while shaking her head, her voice neither confident nor defiant. She was getting nervous.

"_Now_, Rosalie."

Gasping, Rosalie's eyes widened as she looked at her mother in disbelief. "You cannot be serious! Ground me if you think that I did something wrong, but not that!"

"I would ground you if I knew that it would make any impression on you. But your behaviour is just getting worse, you defy me and you answer insolently. I've had enough," she stated.

"But-"

"I'll tell you one more time before you will lose those pants, young lady. _Stand up._"

They looked at each other, the tension in the room growing so heavy that you could have cut it with a knife.

Esme was determined to follow through with her threat, while Rosalie was suddenly determined not to push her luck. This was already bad enough.

And it was unfair, so unfair, but she didn't see how she could convince Esme now that this punishment was way over the top.

Carlisle would never act like that. He would give her a chance to explain - unlike Esme.

The sudden anger about this treatment was coming to the surface, and Rosalie got up from the bed and stood next to it, her eyes pitch-black and furious.

"Fine, _mother_," she spat with venom dripping from every word. "Do whatever you think you need to do."

Then she turned around, balled her hands into tight fists and pressed them into the soft mattress in front of her.

That was the best Esme would get from her. She wouldn't bend over her lap like an unruly child or let her direct her into a position with any more physical contact than necessary. She wanted to beat her, then she better take this or leave.

Rose heard the rustle of fabric as Esme walk up behind her, her scent getting more intense the closer she got. It wasn't comforting or pleasant anymore like the scent of a mother usually was – it was almost repugnant and burned her nose.

Esme noticed her daughter tense – the girl was almost frozen in the position she had chosen for herself.

Seeing this saddened her. She didn't want to be the unreasonable mother Rosalie made her out to be right now. She was just going to correct her behaviour like she needed to. This couldn't wait – and she knew she was calm enough to administer this punishment without risking to really harm her. She had decided on a number of swats and would give her daughter exactly what she deserved - no more and no less.

Soon they could put this behind them and this thought gave Esme strength and calmed her nerves enough to take the final step to stand right next to Rose.

"Rosalie, breathe," Esme said softly and touched her daughter's blonde hair, who suddenly jerked her head away.

"Stop that," Rose snapped.

Retrieving her hand, Esme shook her head sadly. "Rosalie, I don't think it's fair of you to be angry with me. You brought this on yourself," she said with a sigh, then added, "but we'll forget about what happened as soon as this is over."

The words 'Fuck you' were at the tip of Rosalie's tongue, but she managed to keep herself from saying them and swallowed them down along with the new wave of anger that swept over her at hearing Esme's _words of comfort_.

"Do you know what I am going to punish you for?"

Nothing.

Esme felt the need to pinch the bridge of her nose like Carlisle always did in stressful or frustrating situations, but she referred from doing that and just waited for Rosalie's answer.

A few seconds passed, and Esme had to admit that her question had been quite unnecessary. She didn't want to torture her daughter by prolonging the inevitable - Rosalie knew exactly what she had done, knew that she had gone too far and knew that enough was enough.

"Are you ready or do you need a moment?"

This seemed to be a one-sided conversation, because Rosalie didn't answer or even make a single sound.

Esme waited another moment to grant her the time she would need to brace herself for what would happen next, but Rose remained silent like she had before.

She was mad at her, angered that she would be held accountable for her actions, and Esme shook her head at that stubborn display. She should be mad that her daughter had forced her to react and punish her, make her do something she detested more than anything, but she was calm and collected.

"I'll start now, stay down," Esme said and placed her left hand on Rosalie's back while raising her other one in the air. This was always the hardest part ... getting herself to start the spanking, because once she had started she had to follow through with it.

It had only been a handful of times that she had to be the disciplinarian and punish her babies physically - and she had never wanted a repeat of that. But unfortunately their girls weren't always the perfect little angels Carlisle claimed they were, and so she had to be the one to perform the dreaded task.

Rosalie did her best not to cringe away from the contact when she felt Esme's hand resting on the small of her back, rubbing it in a supposedly comforting manner. It only made her want to spit venom.

This was not right, Esme had _no right_ to treat her like an unruly child who needed to atone for something. Who needed to be forgiven.

She didn't care about Esme's forgiveness.

It's worth nothing.

The atmosphere got more and more uncomfortable, and Esme was sure she wasn't the only one who was feeling it. Her daughter was tensing even more under her touch, and she could only assume that it was some kind of trick to make her feel bad so she would give in and not punish her.

But she couldn't let that happen. The children had rules to follow, and if they didn't do that, they had consequences to expect – it had always been like that.

And this time she and Carlisle had apparently let it go on for too long, even though she had tried to step in earlier than she and Carlisle usually did. She had tried to keep this specific situation from happening, but Rosalie must have had a different idea.

Closing her eyes for a second and opening them again, Esme raised her hand a little higher, then brought it down against her daughter's bottom.

She heard Rosalie suck in a breath through her clenched teeth, but apart from that she remained silent.

No sound escaped her when the next firm swats were applied, and she managed to stay still, determined to endure it.

Maybe that was good, Esme thought, maybe Rose realised that she herself was to blame for the position she was in now. Her horrible behaviour had continued even though she had been warned several times. Several times Esme had given her the chance to remedy her ways, but she had refused. Now it was time to pay the piper.

All of them had to follow the same rules, so it wouldn't have been fair towards the rest of the children if she wouldn't have to face consequences while the others would already have found themselves lying across Carlisle's knees several times by now to help them remember the rules.

Esme put a little more force behind each slap now, hoping there would be no repeat of this. She absolutely hated having to punish her children, but sometimes it was necessary. And while she would have loved to hand this unloved duty over to Carlisle, it wouldn't have been fair to either of them.

Carlisle was stressed out enough, and welcoming him home with the prospect of having to spank one of his children was certainly something neither of them wanted. And it wouldn't be fair towards Rosalie, because she was clearly testing the boundaries with her and sending her to Carlisle, who would no doubt go way too easy on her, would send the wrong message. They treated all of their children the same.

Rosalie was still refusing to make a single sound despite the growing discomfort she must be feeling, and Esme could only shake her head at noticing that.

It wouldn't change anything if she remained quiet or cried, the punishment remained the same. But Rosalie was peculiar when it came to something like this. Might be yet another attempt at making her feel guilty.

Rosalie felt the sharp smacks against her behind increasing in force and speed, and she had to press her lips together to make sure she wouldn't yelp or cry out. She wouldn't give Esme the satisfaction of breaking her.

Spankings were painful, there was no doubt about that, but this wasn't deserved and she refused to show how it affected her like Esme hoped it would.

She knew she shouldn't have spoken to her the way she did, but it had been a reaction to stress. She had trouble controlling what she said and how she said it when she felt that she had already lost because someone was refusing to listen.

Esme probably even expected her to be thankful that she let her keep her pants on. They did offer some protection of the sharp sting of the painful smacks, but that didn't change much about the humiliation. Sure, it could be worse, but Rosalie was a very proud person and even a mild scolding could sometimes hurt her pride.

"Almost done," Esme said while still walloping her firmly.

_Now I'm supposed to be thankful that you are going 'easy' on me, huh? I'm feeling all kinds of things right now, but thankful is definitely not one of them …_

The sting and the sound of the slaps did not cease yet - Esme was focussing on her sit spots and upper thighs now, determined to make her feel this unmerited punishment for a while.

With every smack delivered a blistering heat shot through the assaulted spot, which quickly faded into an almost unbearable sting on the now tender skin of her backside and the back of her thighs. Venom tears pricked at the corners of her eyes - the thick liquid was blurring her vision, but she refused to cry.

_How much more, goddammit?!_

_Until the lesson sinks in? But what lesson, Esme?!_

A sharp breath escaped her lips when a particularly vicious slap connected with the back of her left thigh, and her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists even tighter.

She immediately let her head drop a little lower so her hair would hide her face and the shame she felt about this slip.

She had been so determined not to let Esme know that this would affect her, tried to endure this with as much dignity she could muster. There was no doubt in her mind that Edward was enjoying the show because of Alice's incredibly helpful gift – this smug little asshole finally got what he wanted. But he wouldn't get to see her tears or hear her cry out.

A hard whack to the undercurve of her behind pulled her back from her thoughts and made her squint her eyes shut and bit down on her lips. She braced herself for the next smacks that would hopefully be the last, not sure if she would be able to take them without trying to move away from Esme's punishing hand.

And then it was over.

Rose felt the sharp pain of the last smack blossom across her behind until it faded into the slightly duller pain of the previous slaps she had received, and finally she trusted herself to take a slow breath. She was relieved that she had managed to endure it without crying and now she tried to breathe the worst of the pain away.

"Do you need a moment?" Esme asked while starting to rub Rosalie's back in little circles, trying to comfort her after this necessary correction. She wanted to grant her the time to get herself together before standing up again, but Rosalie just reached back and pushed her mother's hand away from her back.

"Rosalie, I'm sorry I had to do that, I really am. But it's over now and we can forget about it."

That was definitely not what Rose wanted to hear. How was she supposed to forget about this? She wouldn't be able to sit comfortably for a while, knew that Esme thought she had done the right thing – she wouldn't be able to forget about this.

"You are forgiven, love," Esme said and made to tuck a blond lock of Rosalie's hair behind her ear in a loving manner, so she could give her the comfort only a mother could.

Rosalie slapped her hand away in disgust, then pushed away from the bed and stood up straight with a quickness that it made Esme take a step back.

"Leave me alone," Rose almost growled, her black eyes glassy from the venom tears that she had refused to let fall, and her chest heaving with angry breaths now.

"Rosalie, I'm not mad at you, let me-" Esme started to say and made to close the distance between them with a hand stretched out towards her daughter, but Rose held up a hand to stop her.

Then she forcefully sat down on the bed despite the pain that flared up in her behind at the contact with the soft mattress, and as Esme's eyes widened at seeing this, Rosalie whispered, "You hit me and you humiliated me, I think you job is done here."

Esme was shocked.

She hadn't expected Rose to react like that, and she couldn't believe what she had just said.

This was not the reaction of a repentant child.

"Rosalie, don't-"

"Go."

"But Rose, I-"

"I said _go_! Leave. me. alone," she ordered, then turned her head away from her mother and quickly wiped at her left eye while sniffling silently to get rid of the thick venom that plagued her nose.

Esme swallowed hard as the fierceness behind her daughter's words rang in her ears. Never before had any of her children reacted like that after a spanking – not with her and not with Carlisle.

Rosalie wasn't being stubborn, no. It sounded more like she felt betrayed.

Standing there in the middle of the room, Esme realised that she didn't know what to do. Her daughter refused to accept the comfort she wanted to give her and tried to hide the pain she was feeling. Why Rosalie was angered by her forgiveness and wanted her to leave she did not know, and so she slowly turned around and walked over to the door like she was in a trance, her head spinning with confusion.

She placed her hand on the door handle and pressed down, but then suddenly stilled and let go again.

"No," she said determinedly and slowly turned back around.

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**Thanks for reading everybody! Oh, and YES, Carlisle will make an appearance soon, don't worry ;-)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello guys and thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**I'm extremely sorry that you had to wait so long for this chapter, but ****I have the flu and I have exams - a shitty combination, let me tell you.**

**But enough about me, please enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

Rosalie gaped at her mother who so blatantly refused to leave her room and give her some peace and quiet. _Why was she still not satisfied? What now?_

She had submitted to her, Esme got what she wanted, but why was she so determined to see her suffer now?

Rose couldn't understand what she had done that Esme would hate her so. She must know that she had trouble showing emotions in front of others - she didn't like being weak and having people see her during one of these horrible moments was one of the worst things that could ever happen to her. It hurt her that Esme saw her as some kind of nuisance that needed to be shown her place, that didn't even deserve privacy any more.

"Are you deaf? I told you to get out!" she yelled at her mother, her eyes narrowed into angry slits.

"I'd like to talk to you, Rosalie."

"Leave me alone! Get out!" she screamed, wanting Esme out of the room, right now. She felt so angry and betrayed, that tears spilled over the rim of her eyes and made their way down her cheeks.

She turned her head away so that Esme wouldn't see and quickly tried to wipe the venom away with the palm of her hand.

Great. Now she had cried in front of her like a silly, little girl. Pathetic.

But … that's what she wanted to see, wasn't it? See that she had succeeded in hurting her. Hopefully she would leave now.

"Rose, I-" "Shut up and leave me alone!" she shouted, her whole frame shaking.

She couldn't believe that Esme was still here. Now she wasn't even granted the privacy of her own room to pull herself back together any more. All she wanted was to be left alone – how often did she have to say it until Esme would understand?

"Stand up," Esme said.

Rosalie let out a sound of disbelief. So she was going to whip her again because she didn't want her near her?

When she just looked at her mother to see if she was serious, Esme tzked and strode over to her. "Stand up!"

Rose leaned away from Esme, who suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up into a standing position.

Seeing how close she was to get another undeserved thrashing, Rosalie immediately jerked her arm free while glowering at her mother with a blazing fire in her eyes. She was angry and fed up and before her mother would get a chance to grab her again, she stalked over to her closet, opened the door and vanished inside.

For a moment Esme stood frozen, trying to understand her daughter's reaction. She had seen Rose starting to shake and it had increased gradually. She knew that Rose was in pain - physically and apparently also emotionally. All she had wanted was for her to stop trying to be brave and stand up to take her weight off her sore behind, so she wouldn't needlessly suffer just because she was too proud to admit that a spanking hurt.

And now she realised that Rosalie might have misinterpreted her intention.

Rose quickly found a bag big enough to fit a few pieces of clothes, and she grabbed whatever she could see through her blurred vision to stuff into it. It was kind of a kneejerk reaction – she just wanted to get away from here. It wasn't like she had thought it through or made an actual plan what would happen as soon as she would leave the house, but all she knew was that she had enough of the way Esme treated her. She couldn't take it any longer.

"Rosalie, what are you doing?" Esme gasped as she heard hectic footsteps, the clinking of the hangers on the hanging rail and clothes ripping.

She hurried through the room and stepped into the walk-in closet. A shocked gasp left her lips when she spotted Rose at the far end of the room stuffing clothes into a big duffel bag in her hand.

Esme felt tears forming in her eyes when she realised what her daughter was doing. Rose wasn't ripping things in anger, no, she was packing her things. Her child was preparing to leave.

"Don't-"

Rose whipped her head around to glare at her. The look in her eyes silenced her mother immediately. "I can leave whenever I want, I don't have to stay here and let you beat me," she snapped, then continued stuffing her things into the bag.

Esme didn't know what to do. Rosalie sounded disgusted by her, repulsed even – she was at a loss what to do now. She couldn't even say anything as a big lump had formed in her throat.

So all she could do at the moment was watch her daughter pack up her belongings. It was horrible.

And now Rose just ignored her presence, didn't even look at her.

A feeling of helplessness engulfed Esme, and she stepped backwards out of the closet, then turned around to leave the room and even closed the door after her. It muffled the sounds of her daughter preparing to leave and she wasn't sure if she liked or hated it. Rose's angry breathing, only interrupted by her sniffling, and the way she collected whatever she could reach were sounds that tore her heart apart and caused her an indescribable amount of pain. Getting a break from that was welcome, but these were also the last things she would hear from her daughter. A very crushing thought.

In her state of fear and shock, she didn't know when she made the decision to step away from the closed door or how her legs carried her down the stairs. But when she finally managed to stop walking and take a breath again, she found herself standing in the empty foyer, staring at the white wall opposite the stairs with unblinking eyes. The pain and realisation of having to watch her daughter leave was numbing and searing at the same time and she felt helpless and alone.

When she looked down with widened eyes, she noticed her hands shaking. The mere thought of losing one of her children was excruciating, and knowing that she was the reason for Rose's sudden decision to leave was killing her inside.

She blinked once when the soft click of the front door being opened filled the air, but she didn't turn her head to see who was entering the house. She felt almost paralysed and barely noticed what was happening around her.

"Esme?"

The distinctive voice of her husband, the father of her children, carried over to her and she blinked her eyes again. It was the only thing she could do while internally falling apart.

"Esme? Esme, love, what happened?" Carlisle asked again. A few quick strides and he was standing in front of his wife, his hands gripping her shoulders. He bent down a little to be able to look into her unmoving eyes and waited for her to explain.

He softly shook her shoulders when she remained quiet, hoping it would release her from her paralysed state. He desperately needed to know what was wrong and he had trouble remaining calm. After what felt like forever but were only a few seconds, Esme blinked her eyes again before she finally started to realise who was standing in front of her.

"Carlisle ...," she whispered softly when she saw that he was indeed here. His scent engulfed her, his topaz eyes gazed into her black ones and she could feel his strong hands on her shoulders. "Carlisle!" she exclaimed, then flung her arms around his neck, pressing him to herself like she was fearing that otherwise he might vanish into thin air.

The hug knocked the air from his lungs, and his eyes widened for a moment when they almost fell to the ground. He found his balance again and put his arms around Esme's shoulders, rubbing her back soothingly. "Esme, please calm down. What happened?"

He pried himself from her arms when she didn't answer, holding her hands in his and looking at her inquisitively. "Esme?"

"You're home, why are you home?" she asked in a weak voice, her glossy eyes showing nothing but confusion.

"Two very distraught children showed up at the hospital, telling me I needed to get home as quickly as possible."

Realisation shone in her eyes when he explained to her why he wasn't at work anymore, and for a moment she seemed relieved.

_Oh, bless Alice and her visions, and bless my big-hearted, caring Emmett..._

But then her face scrunched up in pain as she thought about her burly son, who she would lose as well.

"Emmett ...," she whispered and tears flooded her eyes.

"What happened?!" Carlisle asked urgently, fearing that his wife might drift back into the same state he had just found her in. "Esme, come to your senses and tell me what's going on!"

She gasped – his sharp tone had worked. "Rosalie is leaving. I-I disciplined her and now she's leaving."

"She's _what_?" Carlisle asked, his eyes widening in shock. "_Rosalie?_" he called up the stairs, then looked back at his wife.

"Why would she leave?" he asked her and turned his head to the side again to call, "_Rose?!_"

Her voice quivered when she spoke again. "She was getting out of hand and so I spanked her."

He gasped, then looked at the stairs and back at his wife. "Why would you do that? I told you that something is wrong and that she's suffering, Esme."

"I- ... She took the car," she whispered, trying to explain what had happened so that he would understand.

That couldn't be all. He blinked at her, unable to grasp how that could be enough reason for his wife to actually spank one of the children. He was usually the disciplinarian, and she always tried to convince him to be lenient with her babies. "And ... where did she go? Did you ask her why she took the car?"

Esme felt her lips move, but no sound escaped her as she just stared at her husband with troubled eyes. She managed to take a breath - it wasn't very efficient in calming her, but at least she could speak again. "No, I-"

A loud thud from upstairs made Carlisle look at the ceiling, and he took a step back before turning around and taking a few steps toward the stairs.

"I'll talk to her, stay here," he said in a rush, then hurried up the stairs to find his daughter and hopefully bring light into the dark.

He took two steps at a time, trying to get to his girl as quickly as possible. He could not imagine what kind of thoughts must be tormenting his daughter that she would consider leaving the safety and love of this family. He didn't want to watch her leave, nor would he allow her to leave as long as he didn't know what had caused her to feel the need to do something like that. She must be desperate, feel unloved or threatened or pained, and he wanted to help her through that. There was no way he would lose his daughter without putting up a fight - well, not a real fight, but he would do everything to get her to talk, to explain what was troubling her to that extent that she would consider abandoning her family and coven.

_Daddy's here, honey, everything's going to be fine._

He found the door to her room closed, but could hear that she was still in there and hadn't chosen the window to get away. It relieved him, knowing that he wasn't too late and could still change her mind.

But the feeling of relief didn't last very long, because the tension in the house and his own anxiety managed to crush it again when he knocked on the door and Rosalie didn't answer.

She just didn't answer.

He wasn't sure whether she did not hear him call her name before or knock on the door, but he refused to give up. He knocked again.

"_Go away!_" she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs and something hit the door with a loud bang. She must have thrown something to underline that she really did not want to see anyone right now. It worked, Carlisle got the message, but he was not going to walk away again.

"Rosalie?" Carlisle asked in a soft voice, "Rosie? It's me."

It became silent, so she must have stopped packing up her things. He just stood there and waited, a wooden door the only thing that separated him from his beloved daughter.

He held his breath while he waited, straining his ears for any sound coming from the other side of the door. When he suddenly heard a suppressed sob from her, his heart ripped in two.

He flung the door open and stepped inside, unable to endure hearing her in pain if there was even a small chance that he could make it better.

She wheeled around when she heard the door hit the wall from the force it had been opened, and her eyes were narrowed into slits.

But as they looked at each other and she recognised her father, her eyes widened again for a split second, before her face scrunched up and tears leaped from her eyes.

She quickly covered her face with her hands, unable to let him see her cry.

Carlisle was with her in a flash and wrapped his arms securely around his daughter, holding her tight. She was still covering her face, but when she felt him engulfing her in a loving hug, a heart-breaking sob escaped her lips and he could feel her shoulders shaking.

"Sshh, Rosie, I'm here." He kissed the crown of her head, then settled for resting his cheek against her hair while just holding her and swaying slightly in hopes it would calm her.

A sound from behind him made him look over his shoulder, and he saw Esme standing in the door. Her eyes were big and round, her cheeks tear stained. She looked at him like a shy deer, scared and unsure, but he realised that he couldn't help her right now. She felt guilty and scared - he couldn't change that by talking to her now or trying to bring comfort to her.

It was tough having to choose between his wife and his child in a situation like this, but right now Rosalie needed him more than Esme did. Calming Rose down, getting her to talk to them and convincing her of staying was the only thing on his mind right now. Besides, it would be the only way to help both of his girls, and so he stayed exactly where he was.

"Close the door and go downstairs," he said before turning his head back around to place his cheek on Rose's soft hair once more.

He could hear the door close with a soft click, and then light footsteps that headed down the corridor and quickly got fainter. He was sure that Esme trusted him to fix this.

They stood there for a while, Carlisle whispering soothing words despite the fact that he didn't know what exactly had taken place here today and what had caused his daughter to break down. He couldn't imagine how desperate she must have been to even consider leaving.

He had always hoped that he could provide his coven, his family, with love and safety and that everybody would be happy. He hoped his children would be on good terms with each other and share a close bond. And whenever there was a problem, he encouraged them to come find him or Esme, so that they could find a solution together that would be good for all of them.

But now he wasn't too sure about that any more. Rosalie had considered leaving without talking to him first. He had asked her several times during the last few days if she needed someone to listen, someone she could talk to and who might be able to understand and help her. But every single time she had refused.

If she would have chosen to talk to her siblings he'd be glad, but apparently she hadn't.

"Calm down, honey, sshh. Tell me what happened."

She pulled away and made to rub a hand over her face to get rid of the venom tears that were slowly rolling down her cheeks, but he reached out and wiped them away with the pad of his thumbs, all the while giving her an encouraging smile.

She took a step back when he was finished, and immediately felt so very insecure again. She turned to the side and hugged herself, letting her hands run up and down her upper arms.

Carlisle noticed that she was feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable. Of course she was, this was Rosalie. His stubborn princess.

She saw the display of emotions as a weakness for herself, and that's why she always tried her hardest to keep any emotions from showing. Somehow she couldn't allow herself to let her guard down. Of course there was nothing wrong with crying or being upset, but she had trouble letting it happen. So she just withdrew or tried to overplay it. And concentrating on suppressing it caused her to be on edge.

It was difficult, but they had learned to accept that this was just how she was.

"Rosie, please. Let's take a seat and talk. It pains me to see you so upset, and I hope you give me the chance to let me help you."

She shook her head without looking at him, her eyes fixed on the window and the forest outside. "I don't need any help."

Carlisle was glad that he managed to keep himself from groaning or rubbing a hand over his face. Esme was beside herself with guilt and worry, Rosalie had just cried, and now he stood here with the intention to help, but Rosalie blocked him again.

But if she didn't want to talk, then he had to be the one to do all the talking.

"But I do," he said and stepped up to her, placing an arm around her shoulders. She didn't shrug it off, which was a good sign. "Watching my daughter leave would tear me apart, and not knowing if I could have done something to prevent that from happening or that I might even be the reason ..."

"This has nothing to do with you, Carlisle, really," she whispered and glanced at him.

He sighed. "Sweetie, look. I think the situation has gotten out of hand, there is no use in denying it any longer. Now we can work on limiting the damages and restore harmony. Let's talk."

She didn't say anything, so he rubbed her arm and said, "Please trust me."

"I do trust you."

He nodded his head, then walked over to her couch and took a seat, looking at her expectantly. "Come."

She hesitated for a moment, but then closed the distance between them and sat down on the couch next to him.

Her expression tensed as she sat there and she stopped breathing.

And then Carlisle remembered something, and he could have slapped himself. "Oh God, I apologise, Rosie. Please, I don't want you to be uncomfortable. How about you go lie down?"

She nodded her head. "Yes."

Immediately she got up from the couch again, then made her way over to the bed. Lying down on her side, she faced her father who had followed her and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and Rose looked down at her hands that were currently picking at a loose threat on the duvet.

"A lot."

He gave her a little smile. "Would you like to tell me what happened? Why did you pack your things?"

"I was angry," she admitted.

He nodded his head. "But now that you had a chance to think about it ... do you still wish to leave?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Rosie."

A groan escaped her, before she lifted her head to look at him. "I'm just sick of it and I feel like I cannot take it any more."

Her answer was kind of evasive, but it also let him know that she was interested in fixing this problem. "And that's why I'm here now," he told her while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She sighed. Yes, he was here now and she was glad. His presence had helped her calm down and even though she had cried in front of him, she wasn't as embarrassed as she had thought she would be. _If he had only gotten here earlier ..._

"Rosie, your mother told me that you took the car and that's why she disciplined you. Could you tell me why you chose to take the car?"

"I needed to go somewhere," she replied with a shrug of her shoulder, but her voice sounded bitter and hard.

"And ... where did you go?"

"The auto parts store."

He blinked his eyes. "What did you do there?"

"I bought black car paint," she admitted, looking down at the duvet. She seemed nervous about telling him that, and Carlisle did not understand why.

"Black car paint? For the scratch?" A smile lit up his face and he asked, "You would fix it for me?"

She glanced at him to check if he was really happy about hearing that, and then she nodded her head. "I had to do it while Esme wasn't home."

The smile vanished, and he suddenly frowned. "Why is that?"

"Because she doesn't want me to fix it."

Carlisle was quiet for a moment, trying to understand what Rose had just said. Esme didn't want her to fix it? Why was that? His daughter was a skilled mechanic and they trusted her with their cars. He would never doubt her ability, and he knew that she enjoyed working on cars. Maybe that would have given her a little break from her inner turmoil and then it would have never gotten this far.

"Did she tell you why?" he questioned - he could not imagine why Esme wouldn't allow her to make the long scratch disappear. She wanted to help and he would never turn anyone's help down. His car would benefit from Rose's expertise and her skilled hands.

"No."

"Hm hm." Yes, he could not imagine why on earth Esme had refused to let Rose take care of the scratch, and not even give a reason why she didn't want Rose's help. And he still couldn't believe that Esme would punish Rose on the spot without even talking to him first. That she had taken the car wasn't an offense that needed to be dealt with immediately. "Rosie ... why did it escalate today?"

Rosalie figured that this wasn't about the car anymore but about her decision to leave. She was glad that Carlisle came home before she would have followed through with it. She didn't want to cause her father and siblings pain, and she hadn't even thought about Emmett and what it would do to him. He would have left with her and she felt bad now that she realised that she would have separated him from their family. No, she couldn't let that happen - but she also couldn't ignore the problem that stood between her and Esme. "Because she doesn't listen ... she never listens to me."

He tilted his head to the side while looking at her. "Is that what you truly believe or just what it had been like lately?"

"It's been like that since we moved to Forks ... it got worse a few days ago."

Carlisle sighed - he had thought so and he was indeed glad that the miscommunication between his wife and daughter had not been a problem for long. "How about you tell me what upsets you, and then I'll talk to Esme. Let me fix this."

She looked at him, contemplating on what to do. He was determined to help and she really wanted to let him ... but then she decided against it and shook her head.

This was not between him and her - it was between Esme and her. And even though she really didn't want to see her right now, she figured that she had to. It was time to come clear, but Carlisle didn't need to get involved. Well, if Esme won't listen, then she could still ask Carlisle for help ... but first she had to try to fix this without him.

She slowly lifted her head and looked at him. "I'll talk to Esme," she said decisively.

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**Ok, not my best chapter, but I couldn't let you wait any longer! Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello!**

**LTNT, hm? Sorry 'bout that, but I have more time now and I am super excited to be writing again! This chapter here turned out to be so much longer than I thought it would be (I thought it was finished at 7k... apparently it wasn't) and I think it's also my longest chapter ever yet. I would have divided it into two, but I didn't know where and ... hm. So now I'll present you this monstrosity of epic proportions (yes, that's what it is to me) and hope you won't fall asleep while reading ;-)  
**

**And... that's all I wanted to say. Have fun!**

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"Rosalie, are you sure? Don't get me wrong, honey, I am overjoyed to hear that you would want to talk to your mother … I just cannot help but wonder where this is coming from now," Carlisle said, looking at his daughter with a slight frown.

"It is something between her and me, so it would make sense that we try to fix it together," she replied while focussing on her folded hands in her lap. Just moments ago she had sounded so determined, but having her decision questioned made her a little unsure about herself. She was sure that only a talk with Esme - a private talk between the two of them - could make everything go back to the way it had been before they moved to this place. But even knowing that didn't make it any easier to actually ask for said talk.

Hearing Rose say again that she wanted to talk to Esme made Carlisle feel so relieved and he internally cheered that the peace in the house would soon be restored. This was his wonderful daughter – instead of following her first impulse to leave, she would now stay to try and fix this. She was asking for Esme, and he was sure that his wife and daughter would be able to talk everything through and bury their differences. And if they needed help – well, that's what he was here for, wasn't he? But there was no doubt in his mind that they wouldn't need him.

"I'm so proud of you, Rosie," he whispered and reached out to stroke her hair in a loving and fatherly manner.

She didn't jerk away but also didn't look up at him, just kept her eyes fixed on her hands like she had done for the past minute. It wasn't that she didn't like his affection and comfort, but because she wasn't sure how she should react to his words of praise. Did she even deserve praise after all that happened? She had pushed him away several times, whenever he was concerned and wanted to talk she had refused to open up to him. She didn't have her mouth under control whenever she deemed a situation unfair, and by snapping at her mother she had made situations a lot worse instead of easier to bear - for herself and for others.

So why would he say something like this to her now?

"I didn't do anything to deserve your praise," she remarked, still either unwilling or unable to lift her head and look him in the eye.

Weirdly enough, Carlisle suddenly chuckled and that sound made a frown appear on her face. Just a second before she could ask just what he deemed to be so funny about what she had just said, he cleared his throat and patted her on the knee to ease her worries. "You just don't realise it yet, Rose, but soon you'll understand why," he replied.

And finally their eyes met. She looked right at him, and Carlisle seemed to be amused by the puzzled look she was giving him.

He smiled and winked at her, then pushed himself up from the bed and stood.

"Carlisle," she said and snorted lightly, making him turn around and look at her, "that doesn't make any sense."

Her reaction and the look she suddenly gave him took another weight off his mind and his smile just got broader before he held his hands up and took a step back. "I may be old, but I'm not crazy."

Lightly shaking her head before cocking it to the side, she replied, "I didn't mean to say that you are crazy … I'm just trying to tell you that what you say doesn't really make any sense."

Without his incredible self-control, Carlisle would have whooped with joy that his daughter was in a better mood now and that she was even able to joke with him. This was indeed great for her and her emotional state, and it would definitely be beneficial for the talk she would soon have with his beloved wife and the mother of his children. Rose would be more at ease and it would surely be easier for her to open up to her mother - that way these two would be able to bring things out into the open and eventually put their differences behind them.

What more could he ask for? It was as clear as day that there was something standing between Rose and Esme - a disagreement or a problem or a serious misunderstanding. He really did not know what exactly it was and maybe it wasn't meant for his ears. Several times Rosalie had refused to talk to him, but he was certain that it wasn't for a lack of trust. It didn't feel that way to him, and he hoped dearly that it wasn't the case.

"Do you want me to go get your mother now?" he asked, partly to not make Rose wait any longer so she might feel tempted to change her mind and partly to keep himself from worrying too much.

All she did was nod her head once before she looked back down at her folded hands. "Sure."

He reached out and rubbed her shoulder in comfort, before turning around and walking out of the room in search of his wife.

For a second he hesitated at the door and looked back over his shoulder at his daughter to check if he could really leave her on her own now or if she needed him to sit with her for a little longer, but he quickly realised that he wasn't the person she needed right now. So he just gave her a little smile when she looked up at him, then stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Inhaling the air around him, he quickly picked up his wife's scent and it led him downstairs, exactly where he expected her to be. The last time he had really talked to her was just before he had rushed upstairs to check on Rosalie and make sure she was all right ... but how was Esme feeling?

"Esme?" Carlisle asked after he had descended the stairs and was now standing in the spacious living room. His wife was sitting on an overstuffed armchair, her hands clasped tightly together in her lap. When he approached her he saw her face and immediately noticed just how nervous and oddly scared she looked while she sat there waiting for him to tell her if Rose would be leaving for good or if she had hopefully changed her mind.

She slowly lifted her head and looked at him with wide eyes that shone with fear, and the sticky remnants of venom tears that she had been crying were still visible on her cheeks.

While she had been sitting here, waiting for her husband to come downstairs, she had hoped that he would be able to ease her worries, but she still couldn't get rid of the raw fear of losing a child that was torturing her at moments like these. She wouldn't just lose her child - she would be the one who chased her out of the house and away from the safety of their family. She would be the one who endangered Rose's life - and probably Emmett's as well. Not that these two weren't capable of taking care of themselves ... but she still felt that they would be safer with their family and she wanted them here with her where she could assure herself that they were alive and well.

Well, right now Rose was alive ... but she wasn't well - because of her.

She sniffed and then tried to wipe some of the venom off her face, and Carlisle's heart broke at the sight. _Oh no, Esme..._

"Esme," he said again and stepped up to her, then eased himself down on the armrest of the chair she was sitting on in order to be as close as possible to her.

"Will she be staying?" Esme asked after some hesitation. Her voice trembled slightly, Carlisle noticed, and he immediately put an arm around her shoulders and ran his hand up and down her upper arm to bring comfort to the love of his (after)life. He knew she was scared, and he knew that asking this question and waiting for the answer was excruciating and nerve-racking for her to say the least.

"Yes, of course she will," he said in a soothing voice and put a finger underneath her chin to make her look up at him and see the honesty and reassurance in his eyes. "She was just angry and not thinking clearly."

Esme closed her eyes and a sigh of relief left her lips before she whispered, "Oh, thank God ..."

Her features immediately relaxed at hearing these wonderfully good news and she leaned against her husband, feeling that his presence, his touch and his smell had incredibly calming effects on her and her tattered nerves. He gave her the strength she was craving right now.

A few moments passed while they sat there in silence, until Carlisle decided that the sooner his wife and daughter would talk, the better.

"But darling ... there is still something you need to do," he said.

He detected a sudden hitch in her breathing, like his words had taken her off guard. She leaned back and looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to explain what exactly he was talking about.

Now that he could see her eyes again, Carlisle noticed the look of nervousness and fear she was giving him, and so he went on immediately. "Rosalie would like to talk to you."

"_Me?_"

"Yes, _you_," he confirmed and gave her a nod.

She did not react, and so he stood up from the armrest of the chair and knelt in front of his wife, taking her hands in both of his. He hoped he would get her attention that way, because she still seemed to be shocked even after several moments had passed.

When she felt his forearms on her knees and her hands in his, she looked at him. He could clearly see that she was frowning, showing him that she was having trouble with his request... or Rosalie's request.

Esme was sure she couldn't do it. He was better at talking to Rose, she knew that he was... she would only make everything worse again and then she would lose her daughter. "I'm not sure if this is a good idea, Carlisle... I don't want it to escalate again. I cannot _risk_ it."

The look in her eyes and the way she shook her head as she spoke let him know that she was starting to feel a little panicky, and so he had to make sure she would not back out of this.

"She asked for you, Esme," he replied calmly, using his thumbs to rub over the backs of her hands in a comforting and reassuring manner. "You two have a lot to discuss, please, go upstairs and talk to her. Please."

Her reaction to that was not what he would have imagined.

"Carlisle, she accused me of abusing her!" she almost yelled at him, but managed to keep her voice low enough so that Rosalie wouldn't hear her upstairs.

Carlisle internally groaned at the simple fact that his wife could be just as difficult as his children sometimes - he could clearly feel how it started to frustrate him. "I'm sure that was just a little misunderstanding."

"Carlisle, this wasn't a misunderstanding."

"Esme-"

"It wasn't," she insisted. "That's what she said."

_Did she want to argue now?_ With an exasperated sigh, he asked, "Can you blame her?"

He wanted her to see it from Rosalie's perspective, but that obviously didn't work, because she suddenly looked at him like he had completely lost his mind.

His hands shot up and he held them in front of himself in a placating manner. "No, Esme, please don't look at me like that. I've told you before that something was troubling her, but you refused to listen to me. See what happened? Rosalie almost left us."

Now she got defensive. "I made a mistake, Carlisle! I feel horrible because of it, but I cannot believe that you would talk to me like that."

That was not his intention. He had tried to show her how important it was to pay close attention to their children's behaviour - but he definitely hadn't tried to insult her. "Esme, I'm-"

"No, I don't want to hear it," she replied without letting him finish speaking. Her eyes were narrowed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "You think you are so much better with the children, then prove it."

_Was she challenging him to fixing the problem between her and Rose?_ "Esme-"

"Go ahead, _prove it_!" she snapped at him, raising her voice a little at the end while motioning towards the staircase.

_Oh, Esme ..._

Carlisle turned his head to the side so that his wife would hopefully not see that he was biting down on his bottom lip to keep himself from grinning. It was almost hard enough to draw venom, and before his teeth could actually penetrate the skin, he heard Esme huff.

"What are you laughing at? This is not funny!"

"Esme," he said with a small chuckle and patted her knee before standing up. "Rosalie is waiting. She specifically asked for you, because she would like to speak with you. Go upstairs and accommodate her request, I'm sure you can do it, love."

* * *

After Carlisle had left her room to go downstairs and find Esme, Rose got up from the bed and let her hand run through her blonde locks while she exhaled slowly. She turned towards the window and looked out without really focussing on anything outside.

Did she_ want_ to speak with Esme? … not really.

But did she _have_ to speak with Esme? … yes.

She wasn't sure how the talk with Esme would go, if she would be able to tell her everything and if Esme would accuse her of lying again and then flip. Well, Carlisle was here now and she was certain that he would make sure that that wouldn't happen. But would he be upstairs before the situation could escalate? Hm.

She pinched her eyes shut as she realised that her thoughts were getting away from her. Everything had gone downhill today, but why should it continue now? And Esme wasn't incalculable or aggressive, so she didn't need to waste any more thoughts on that. The stress as of late and her deep conviction that Edward would never lie to her had obviously confused Esme and made her go with her gut … which happened to be completely wrong.

Rose shifted from one foot to the other while she stood there by the window, gazing out. But the shift in her stance and the way the fabric of her pants moved over the sore skin of her behind made her realise that she was still very much feeling the after-effects of Esme's little lesson.

A change of clothes could help with that, and so she made her way over to the closet to choose a light skirt that would be a lot more comfortable right now than tight fitting pants.

She found exactly what she had been looking for and after she had changed into it, she had to admit that she felt better almost instantly. So now she could have an uncomfortable talk without feeling physically completely uncomfortable.

She didn't know how long it would take for Esme to come upstairs, but she walked back to her bed and lay down on her side. The scenery outside, the wonderful view of the river and the forest, was calming and overwhelming at the same time.

So far, she hadn't spent much time really looking at it, but now she started to really see why Esme wanted to return to this place and why she had spent so much time looking for the perfect house for them. It had been a while since the last time they have had such a big house with so much room for all of them, and the river nearby offered wonderfully calming background noises that she could easily hear in her room even with the windows closed.

Esme was a loving mom who was always so concerned about all of them and tried her best to keep the family together and happy. So what had happened that they would suddenly not get along any more? She had a vague idea of what might have happened – _Edward_ had happened. But why was it his desperate wish to drive a wedge between her and Esme and ruin their relationship? That would be low, even for him. No, while she was sure that he had planned to make her feel as miserable as he was obviously feeling, she guessed that it might have just snowballed out of proportion of its own.

A wave of insecurity over the impending talk suddenly hit her and it mixed with the lingering anger over Esme's treatment of her. Was this going to change now? If Esme really listened and they would talk openly and hopefully manage to really pay attention to what the other one was saying … would it finally go back to the way it had been?

Or was it just going to get worse?

She wasn't going to stay if staying here meant causing her and the rest of the family sorrow – it just wouldn't be right. She couldn't square it with her conscience to make everyone suffer and she didn't want to be somewhere where she obviously wasn't welcome anymore.

Rose gasped when a knock on the door and hearing Esme call her name pulled her from her musings, and she closed her eyes for a moment to rid herself of all the thoughts about possible outcomes that were coursing through her mind right then.

"Enter."

* * *

In disbelief Esme watched her husband walk over to the French doors and open them. He turned around to give her one last, reassuring smile, before stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind him.

That he would just stand up and leave was not what she had expected to happen, but then again, he was her husband. Sometimes she had the feeling that he knew her better than she knew herself and he must have figured that she was just feeling nervous.

And he had said that she could do it.

All she needed to do was to believe in herself that she would not make another mistake again.

Swallowing down the fear of failing her daughter and her children and her husband, Esme slowly got up from the armchair and turned towards the foyer.

The first few steps were still easy, but as soon as she reached the staircase and stretched her neck to look up to the next floor, her feet suddenly felt like lead and kept her from taking just another step.

_Another mistake and Rose would leave..._

That thought was stuck in her mind.

_Another mistake and Rose would leave..._

Unfortunately staying down here wasn't going to solve anything... it would just make the situation worse instead. The last thing she wanted was for Rose to think that she wasn't interested in talking things through. Not going upstairs would send a completely wrong message and Rose would feel like she really didn't care about her, even though the exact opposite was the case.

Taking one deep breath to steady her nerves, she put her foot on the first step and slowly made her way upstairs.

It was weird how time can change a person, she thought while taking one step after the other until she reached the first floor. Her eyes immediately focussed on the door to Rose and Emmett's room, and seeing that it was closed made her once again stop where she was.

This wasn't the first time that she and her oldest daughter were having difficulties. But the last time Rosalie had been close to leaving, the fear of losing her child had suddenly awakened a strength within her she hadn't been aware of having. She had been determined to put up a fight and protect her young daughter from herself, even if it meant that she had to take drastic measures. Of course she had feared that it would ruin their relationship forever, but at that time she was willing to take the risk for her daughter's safety.

Maybe she should enter the same state of mind again... she really preferred having her daughter hate her over having to watch her leave their coven.

What was different about this situation now, was that there were a lot more people involved than back then and that there must be some kind of miscommunication that got them to this point.

Esme shook her head to rid herself of everything that was just keeping her from focussing on the here and now, and eventually walked over to Rosalie's door in order to not make her wait any longer. Halfway to Rosalie's room she passed a mirror hanging on the wall, and she turned her head to look at herself.

She had cried earlier but hadn't used a handkerchief to clean her face and now she looked terrible. On the sideboard that was standing underneath the mirror was a box of tissues, and she grabbed one and wiped it across her face to get rid of the venom that clearly showed that she had been crying. There was no way that she would present herself to her daughter looking like this, no.

Two tissues later and she felt a little better. Well, she was still not feeling well, but at least her previous breakdown wasn't showing on her face anymore.

She hid the used tissues in the pocket of her pants, then walked the last few meters until she was standing in front of her daughter's room.

"Rosalie?" Esme called and tapped her knuckles against the door. Truthfully, she still felt a bit nervous as she did not know what to expect, but Rosalie had asked for her. She must be willing to talk to her otherwise it wouldn't make any sense that she wanted her here.

That, as well the fact that Rose had decided against leaving, calmed Esme enough to open the door when she heard Rose allowing her to enter.

She slowly pushed the door open, still having an uneasy feeling about this. What would be the outcome? Last time she was in this room Rose was starting to pack up her things because she couldn't stand her presence anymore. What a horrible mother she was ... chasing her children out of the house, making them feel like they weren't welcome, like she didn't want them here.

And Rose had basically accused her of abusing her ... that thought alone had shocked her so much that she couldn't even think straight. She always wanted what was best for her children, and she would protect them from whoever might threaten or harm them. But hearing that she was the one who would do the exact opposite of keeping them safe was more than just scary. She hoped she had just made a mistake by not making sure that Rose fully understood why she earned that spanking or that Rose had just meant to be spiteful - but if her children really saw her that way and if she really mistreated them like that, then she had become a person she truly feared.

She looked into the room and found her blonde daughter lying on her side on the bed. Rose was facing the window and didn't even look at her or acknowledge her presence in any way.

That kept Esme frozen in place for a moment, as she was unsure if Rose had changed her mind about this. She was lying with her back to her - not exactly a very welcoming stance. But Rose had allowed her to enter and Carlisle said that she had asked for her, so she gulped down the uneasiness that she was feeling and shut the door behind her.

Then she slowly made her way over to the bed and halted for a moment before she carefully sat down on the vacant side. She lifted her hand and let it hover over her daughter's head and shoulder for a second, unsure whether it was still too early to show her that she was sorry, before letting it sink down to touch Rose's hair, intending this gesture to be comforting and loving. Unfortunately it didn't have the desired effect, pretty much the opposite in fact.

Rose jerked her head away and threw her hand back to fend her mother off. "Don't," was all she said.

A pang of guilt and hurt coursed through Esme, but again, she swallowed it down. Rosalie wasn't trying to be hostile, she was just still hurt because of what had happened in this room today and so she couldn't tolerate her mother's touch right now. That was okay and understandable. Still, Esme felt that maybe it would have helped to show Rosalie how she was feeling about this.

"Rosalie, I-" Esme started to say in an attempt to end the silence and also to apologise, but Rose interrupted her immediately.

"Don't, Esme."

"But-"

"How about you listen to _me_ for a change?" Rose asked, never turning around to look at her mother. This was _her_ room, _she_ had asked Esme to come here, and now _she_ would do the talking. She needed to get it off her chest before she would decide against it.

Esme noticed that Rose's voice had a sharp edge to it. It hadn't been her intention to insult her daughter or anything, so she felt that she should tell her that she was sorry before she could make yet another mistake. "Rose, I-"

"Esme," Rosalie hissed, and it instantly shut Esme up. "I did not ask you to come here to sputter apologies."

Despite the tone Rose was taking with her, Esme remained quiet then, letting her daughter know that she would listen now and that she could start talking. Something was really bothering the girl and she needed to just get it out, that's why she decided to not say anything until Rose would be finished.

A minute passed, and it brought a silence that got heavy, uncomfortable and very oppressing. Esme was just about to decide against remaining silent when Rosalie suddenly spoke.

"Emmett and I had the most wonderful holidays," she whispered. It was very quiet, but Esme was sitting right behind her and so she had no trouble hearing. "We enjoyed spending time together, just the two of us and no one to disturb us or invade our privacy."

She paused for a moment, partly to check if Esme would want to interupt her, and partly to let this sink in. She wanted Esme to know that their holidays had been beautiful, and that she had been – until a week ago – the happiest person. She wanted her to understand how she had been feeling until she and Emmett returned from their vacation.

She and Emmett had been reluctant to leave their holiday home to go back to their daily routine of playing their roles as human teenagers and going to highschool. Attending classes over and over again was completely pointless for them, but going to school gave them the chance to stay in a place for longer than just a little while and being part of a coven guaranteed them the utmost safety and security. Besides, they were more than just simple coven members that lived together because everyone benefitted from it – they lived together because they _wanted to_. They considered their coven a family, and whenever they weren't together, they felt that something was missing.

So despite the sadness that their vacation had come to an end, they had packed their things and made their way to Forks where the rest of the family was already busy settling in.

Rose sighed, and Esme could see her daughter hang her head before she lifted it again and gazed out of the window. "The first day of school had been like any other. In a town as small as Forks where everyone knows everyone we are the new attraction. I can't help it, but I do enjoy the looks of envy I get from the girls and the lustful looks from those highschool boys. For me it's some kind of compensation for all the silly rumours that we'll have to endure for the first year or so in this new place."

Nodding her head, Esme crossed her legs and let her folded hands rest on top of her raised knee. She had always hoped that the rumours people were spreading about her family wouldn't affect her children too much. It was never easy to be the center of the gossip, but it was always calming to know that it would die down after a while and they wouldn't stand in the spotlight anymore.

"I know that Edward has been moody all throughout the holidays. Jasper told me that it was quite a trial to endure his sulkiness and his mood swings for that amount of time. The only thing that helped was the promise of a new car, as it made him finally shut up. But apparently it got worse the moment Carlisle picked it up and brought it to Forks, because Edward wanted to drive it."

Begrudgingly, Esme had to agree. Her youngest hadn't been in the best of moods during these past few months, and even though she would never admit it, she was glad that Rose and Emmett had chosen to go on a vacation instead of staying home. It would have definitely gotten out of hand with all of them home and she was glad that that hadn't happened. Rose and Emmett needed some time to themselves so they could start their stay in Forks as relaxed as possible and Jasper and Alice were always content and never complained no matter what. So that left her with her Edward, who hadn't been very happy lately.

"I don't understand him sometimes," Rose sighed and shook her head. "That was a perfect deal for him – a brand new car for a few months of waiting. I don't understand why he had to have it before he would be able to drive it – but then again, I don't really care." Carlisle and Esme often made deals with their children when they needed a little incentive, or just as a way of compromise. It had worked over the years, but apparently this time something had gone completely wrong.

Looking down at her hands, Esme felt a pang of guilt, because she was the one who had arranged it that Edward would get the car as soon as possible so she could see him smile again. She had asked him repeatedly what she could do to help him, and he eventually told her that a new car would make the settling in in Forks and at school a lot easier for him. So she had made sure that her baby would get what he wanted. But before she could spend yet another thought on that, Rosalie was already talking again.

Shrugging her shoulder, Rose continued with her musings. "Maybe it wasn't even the ugly Volvo... maybe it was the fact that he didn't pick up any strange vampire scents or thoughts in the forests surrounding Forks. It's like he is blaming everything and everyone that he doesn't have a mate and apparently isn't able to find the right one."

Not liking how spiteful Rose sounded as she said that, Esme had half a mind to reprimand her - but she stopped herself in time, because she had a feeling that Rose didn't mean it like that. She was annoyed that - apparently - Edward had taken his mood out on her and the rest of his siblings. Before she could think about this some more, Rosalie went on.

"He was still his grumpy old self on the first day of school – and it got even worse during lunch time. You could see it in his eyes that he scanned the human girls in the room for 'the right one', but got angry when it grew apparent she wasn't there. And when he doesn't get his way or is feeling miserable, he needs to make others feel the same way in order to make himself feel better. It's such a silly and childish reaction, but that's him all over."

Another pause, but Esme remained silent so that Rosalie could continue.

"When the school day was over, I could see him standing in the school's parking lot, talking to some of the boys of his year. That confused me a little, as we prefer to keep to ourselves instead of getting involved in any ridiculous teeny-nonsense. I could hear that Edward was whispering something to them, I just couldn't make out the words. I approached them as they were standing next to my car, and when they spied me, the look in their eyes changed. They had practically drooled all over the place when they had first seen me in the morning, but at that moment in the parking lot, it was like they were suddenly looking down on me. Their eyes widenend at first, and then the look they gave me was a mix of shock and... I don't know... aversion and disgust and a lot more."

Bitterness and hurt were detectable in her voice, and Esme wanted to hug her so bad. Rose was always trying her best to keep her emotions hidden from everyone, but right now she didn't succeed and that meant that she was feeling deeply wounded. Rose wouldn't tolerate any physical contact right now, Esme was sure of it, and so she had no other choice but to stay exactly where she was and listen.

"Rose… what happened?" she asked carefully, sensing that whatever Rose would tell her next would hurt her just as much. It was the first time she spoke since Rose had snapped at her, but she needed to know what she knew. Something really odd must have happened for people to look at her like that, especially if they didn't know anything about her. This was definitely not a common reaction humans were having when they saw one of their kind.

"Edward told them that I was only looking so pretty and was dressed like that because soon I would be showing and sooner or later my figure would be ruined. He said that I was desperate to hold onto my beauty for as long as possible."

Esme just stared back at her, not even able to blink her eyes.

She had to admit that this information took her completely off guard – it seemed so unlike her baby boy to do something like that out of spite. But what shocked her even more was that her daughter had to deal with something she knew would take a while for her to forget about. She could practically feel what Rosalie was feeling, because she knew how much her daughter would have loved to have a child and how she cursed her beauty for having that chance ripped away from her forever. Hearing that someone had made fun of her and used this to hurt her was despicable and incredibly hurtful. Additionally, if Edward had really said that, then Rosalie must feel betrayed by her own brother.

How could she not have noticed that Rosalie wasn't all right?

Rose just raised an eyebrow when Esme didn't say anything and she could feel her staring at her. She had expected at least some kind of reaction to the fact that her favourite wasn't always the perfect little angel that she thought he was. Or – what was also very likely – that she would call her a liar. After the last few days it wouldn't surprise her if Esme refused to believe her.

Finally realising that it was completely silent in the room and she was just staring at her daughter, Esme swallowed hard before asking, "Did they believe him?"

Aha… so Esme did not call her a liar? How did _that_ happen?

Rose let out a humourless laugh. "Obviously… how could they not? I bought a booster seat the day before and had kept it in the trunk. When I reached my car, I saw that it was on the rear seat for everyone to see. Apparently that backed his nonsense up."

Taking a deep breath, she continued. "When I pulled the keys from my purse and unlocked the doors, he just pointed at the seat with a stupid grin on his face and told me that it's very cute. I have to admit that _that_ was a little too much for me. He was trying to ridicule me in front of a bunch of human teenage boys, and something in me snapped. For the past few days I had ignored Edward's stupidity, but… argh, I just couldn't keep myself from saying something in return. That's why I told him it was his seat and I could strap him in if he wanted me to. Emmett arrived at that moment and said he'd help."

Again, Esme just looked at her, her eyes unblinking. She had taken Rose and Emmett's keys to make sure they would stop picking on Edward. Hearing that he had told Carlisle about Rose and Emmett ragging him with this seat had appalled her and so she had wanted to put an end to it. Of course she hadn't known that in a way Edward had provoked it. But there was still something different she didn't quite comprehend. "Rose…," she said and cleared her throat, "I still don't understand why you would buy a booster seat."

Rose rolled her eyes._ Of course that would be Esme's first question... she was still convinced that her only goal in life was to torture Edward._

Who cares that Edward was actively spreading rumours about them and draw unnecessary attention to their family? The important thing here was that she had bought something with her own money and that nobody would have ever seen that seat if it wasn't for this little bastard. "That's not important," she replied curtly.

"I'd like to know, Rosalie. Why did you buy it?"

"Like you care," she scoffed. "You're only asking because you are still convinced that it was part of my 'evil plan' to tease your perfect little angel who is infallible unlike the rest of us."

Esme frowned and shook her head in disbelief. "Is that what you think, Rosalie? That I favour Edward over you?"

"Esme," Rose said and had trouble keeping herself from snorting. "It's a known fact, don't embarrass yourself by denying it."

Placing a hand over her unbeating heart, Esme whispered, "If it came across like that, then I am truly -"

"Esme, please. I don't care that I am not your favourite and I don't even want to be. As long as I am Emmett's favourite, my little world is fine and I am happy. But you could stop trying to rub it in."

Esme didn't know what to say, because she thought she would treat all of her children equally. Sure, she tended to spoil her boys a little more, but Carlisle was doing the same with their girls, so it never crossed her mind that someone would still feel left out or disadvantaged. And yes, she had a soft spot for Edward as he was her first son with Carlisle and he often felt lonely due to not having a mate. Maybe she did spend more time with him and coddled him a bit more...

"And please don't start treating Alice like you treat me, please don't," Rosalie added in a whisper, pulling Esme out of her thought.

She gasped. "I would never treat Alice like -," Esme started to say before she realised that this was heading in the completely wrong direction. Rose was telling her that she was concerned that she might treat Alice badly, but she should never have to be concerned about that. She did sound like she was being honest, but Esme had the feeling that additionally she was maybe trying to corner her, make her say the wrong thing so it would sound like she was admitting to treating her badly. But it had never been her intention to be unfair to any of her children - she just didn't know how to make Rosalie believe her. And she was seriously starting to feel even guiltier than she already was.

She settled for taking a deep breath while she was trying to find the right words. But weirdly enough, Rose wasn't even waiting for an explanation or an apology – she was suddenly determined to tell Esme what she wanted to know while staring out of the window with unblinking eyes.

"On our way to Forks there was a car crash," she said. "Emmett and I didn't witness it happening, but we saw the wrecked cars - bent metal, broken glass and blood. A lot of blood. I saw a little stuffed toy lying on the asphalt when we drove past ... and that made it hard for me to forget about that accident. Emmett told me not to do it, but I looked it up on the internet and found an article about the crash. The driver who caused this accident was drunk and had fallen asleep behind the wheel – he died instantly. In the other car had been a young family with the baby sitting on its mother's lap."

Esme swallowed heavily as she listened intently, already fearing what Rose would say next. A little, innocent baby. Dead, robbed of the chance to grow up and live and love.

"The little boy died – the parents barely survived," she said in a whisper, then paused for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was sharp and she was almost hissing. "It made me angry to know that this little child never had a chance. And it made me angry that the parents had a piece of shit car and apparently not enough money to make sure that they would have a decent child's safety seat for the little one. It's probably a classic case of 'Wrong place, wrong time', but this family got ripped apart in the blink of an eye."

Her voice turned quiet again when she admitted, "I cannot help but think about it again and again, it's uppermost in my mind … and I guess Edward was picking up on it."

Esme frowned as she heard that. She didn't know why Rose was mentioning this and why she was certain that Edward was checking in on his sister's thoughts. Why was the fact that she had seen the scene of an accident so important for what she would tell her next? And besides, she still hadn't answered her question.

"All right, I'm done now. You can laugh at me or call me a liar now," Rose told her, and she sounded like she was completely serious.

Esme didn't understand anything anymore. _The talk was over now?_ "Why would I laugh at you, Rose?"

"Because you think I'm either being ridiculous or because you think I made this up."

"No, I don't," she said, blinking her eyes while trying to understand what was happening here. She was glad that Rosalie had told her so much, but she was still trying to connect the dots. However, it just didn't make any sense that she would expect her to call her a liar or ridicule her for telling her about a car accident.

Rose scoffed. "Yes, you do."

"Rosalie -" "Thanks for listening, Esme," Rose said louder than neccessary, "but you can go now."

And for the first time Esme noticed that Rosalie was watching her reflection in the window. Had she been doing that the whole time? Watching her? _Observing_ her?

"I know you think I'm lying… wouldn't be the first time. Just_ go_," Rosalie ordered and glanced over her shoulder, then focussed on her hands while waiting for her mother to leave the room.

Esme frowned at the sudden change in Rose's tone of voice and the way she reverted back to her usual guarded self, but she had seen a look of hurt and sadness in Rose's eyes that she obviously hadn't managed to keep hidden from her.

She didn't know what to do and so it seemed safer to just comply with her daughter's wish before she would make another mistake again.

Esme stood up and headed for the door, but before she could lift her hand and reach for the door handle, a thought struck her causing her to halt. With eyes narrowed in thought, she whispered, "You bought the booster seat to give it to charity." It sounded like she was talking to herself and there was a confidence in her voice that made it obvious that Esme didn't have a single doubt in her mind about it.

Even though Esme had whispered the words, Rose had heard her. A gasp left her lips and she looked over her shoulder, staring at her mother.

Esme slowly turned around on her heel and she was still looking completely thoughtful when their eyes suddenly met.

Rose seemed like she wasn't sure what to expect, and Esme reached up and held a hand to her forehead. "You didn't buy it to tease Edward," she said while shaking her head lightly.

And as she thought about that and realised that she had been completely wrong about this, she remembered what else she had accused Rosalie of or rebuked her for.

Just today when she came home, Rosalie was the only one there as her siblings had still been at school. Rose had refused to give her an answer as to why she was cutting classes, and Esme had assumed it was just because she wanted to drive her car without anyone noticing.

Combining the facts, she suddenly understood why Rose would leave school early and why she had needed to find something to busy herself with. If she were honest with herself, she would have done the same. It's exactly what she and Carlisle always told their children: If you are feeling like you might struggle with your temper or you're not feeling well, leave the situation. Whether it was at home, at school or elsewhere – before the situation could get out of hand and you might lose control over your instincts or your temper, it was better to leave and find a place to calm down.

Rosalie had been confronted with the death of a young child and parents who had lost their baby, and it had really bothered her. And while she hadn't been feeling well, her brother showed her up in front of a few human boys and told a very nasty and persistent rumour about her. Now the rumour is spreading and everyone is talking about her and watching her - of course she needed a break from that. People are talking about a baby she would never have and make her look like she was only concerned about her looks and didn't care about anything else - the situation must be incredibly difficult for Rose.

Esme had to admit that it was a known fact that siblings argue and tease each other, but with this Edward had really crossed a line.

A tidal wave of regret and guilt hit Esme when she thought about this afternoon – she hadn't really given Rose the chance to explain herself. Or to be more precise: After the way she had treated her it was understandable that Rosalie refused to tell her anything because she thought she wouldn't believe her. Yes, Rose also tended to be difficult to approach at times, but she should have been more understanding with her daughter instead of practically forcing her into a position where she would have to defend herself and would talk rudely back to her due to feeling cornered. So it didn't really come as a surprise that this afternoon had turned into a complete disaster.

Esme's hand covered her mouth while her eyes turned apologising and regretful. "Rose, I am so sorry," she whispered.

Maybe it was the sudden change of atmosphere or the disbelief that Esme wouldn't accuse her of lying anymore why Rose wasn't able to keep her mouth shut. Just like when Carlisle had told her that he was proud of her, she just snorted and even asked in a snide tone of voice, "Sorry for beating me? Sorry that you wasted your time listening to me? Sorry tha-"

"No."

That simple word combined with the force it had been spoken with shut Rose up. She didn't have to wait long until Esme was seated on the bed again like before and she started explaining.

"I am sorry that I didn't realise how you were feeling. I am sorry that I hadn't been more attentive and I am sorry that I didn't listen to you."

Rose swallowed heavily at hearing her mother apologise. Still, she couldn't get rid of the feeling of being treated by her like she was to blame for everything that went wrong in this house. "But you're not sorry for beating me."

"You were rude and disrespectful and tried to deceive me - you know I cannot tolerate that. I realise that my ignorance frustrated you and that it added up to whatever else you were feeling. But I still feel that I did not punish you completely without reason. Yes, I should have listened to you and we could have waited for Carlisle to come home like you asked me to. I am sorry that I did not give you that chance, but you need to understand that I merely disciplined you, Rose, I did not beat you," she tried to explain, but felt like it still didn't change anything about the fact that this would have never happened if she hadn't paid more attention to the way her daughter had been feeling lately.

"Fine, but you were going to beat me."

Esme just stared at her, shocked, until she remembered what Rose was referring to. Now that's why Rosalie suddenly wanted to leave … yes, she had already figured that she should have said something else so that Rose wouldn't have gotten the impression that she wanted to spank her yet again.

She hung her head as the pain of hearing her daughter pack up her things and snarl at her came back to the surface. The pain of losing a child, the fear, the forlornness … it all came back to her now.

Cradling her head in her hands, she was silent for a moment while she tried to keep the tears at bay.

Rosalie was startled by the odd silence – she had expected Esme to say something in her defence. She looked back over her shoulder, seeing her mother hunched over and her head in her hands, and it almost made her feel sorry for her.

Suddenly Esme lifted her head and looked back at her daughter who immediately turned back around and looked at her nails like she had been doing all along.

"I have no words to describe how sorry I am. That was a misunderstanding, Rose, please believe me. I saw you shaking and knew that you were less than comfortable sitting … all I wanted for you was to stand up so you wouldn't suffer more discomfort."

Now that made Rose bite her lip. What Esme just said sounded more like the mother she knew than the person she had thought her to be lately.

"What happened in the school's parking lot..."

Rose's head shot back up again. "Emmett never did anything, Esme, you know him. He didn't even know what happened before he approached us."

And again, Esme felt a pang of guilt. Oh, she must have been terrible towards Rose lately that she thought she would only want to talk about this because she and Emmett were in trouble. "That's not what I meant. He's not in trouble, and neither are you. I wanted to ask you how Edward's remark made you feel."

That question took Rose off-guard and if she wasn't so much in control of her body, she knew her jaw would have dropped and she would have openly gaped at her mother. _Was Esme really asking her how she was feeling?_ What good would it do to talk about her feelings now?

She wanted to refuse answering Esme's question, as she knew if she would get started she'd tell her everything. But maybe she really needed to get everything off her chest, everything that was troubling her - and Esme was her mother.

But she didn't want to cry in front of her. This was so hard for her, being vulnerable in front of someone was so hard for her. However, she suddenly realised that Esme maybe could relate to her concerning this.

Her mouth opened and closed several times as she was still debating with herself whether to open up about this or not. Before she could really make a decision, she was already talking. "I cannot bear children. I have to content myself with watching other people's children grow up. That Edward would make fun on me because of that and additionally make Emmett and me seem like some hormone-drive teenagers that hadn't been careful is just making me angry. He made me appear like I would consider a child as some kind of accident and that I would give anything to be pretty. I didn't ask for this, Esme, I am trapped in this body for all eternity with no chance of ever having a child with my husband. To me that's not a laughing matter. I don't find this funny, and I don't know why he would say something like this about me." While she spoke, her voice turned from quiet and soft to angry and frustrated.

"I will always be pretty, even though I would give that up without a second thought. But since that's not possible, _this_," she said icily and motioned with her hand down her body, "is all I have."

Esme didn't even get a chance to say anything, tell her daughter that she understood and that she knew exactly how she was feeling, because Rosalie seemed like she was just getting started. But it was good for her to let it all out, and so Esme just sat there, listening.

"He wanted to ruin that for me, too. I am beautiful and people envy me for it. Yes, I am vain and I enjoy these looks they give me. It's all I have, Esme. But now I get stared at and people point their fingers at me, everybody is talking behind my back and the rumourmill is turning. It would only be half as bad if it was only directed against me, but Emmett is in the focus as well."

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she shook her head lightly and said, "I seriously have no idea what I have done to Edward that he would do that ... tell people this lie about me and draw attention to us. I hope that it will stop in a few months when people will see that my stomach isn't growing, and I really hope that they won't think that I had an abortion to keep my figure. I would never do that."

Esme had the same thoughts on this. Rose was being honest with her, and she felt incredibly shocked that Edward would do this, especially since he knew just how much_ this_ would hurt Rose.

Those were her weak spots. She couldn't get pregnant, people would talk bad about her mate and Edward had drawn attention to their family. Rose loved this family more than she let on, and she was extremely scared of people finding out about them. Edward spreading rumours wasn't exactly beneficial in keeping their family out of the focus. _How could she possibly not have noticed that Rosalie wasn't all right?_ This was a lot to take in, a lot to endure, and on top of that she had been treated by her like she was to blame for everything that went wrong. She had laughed at Carlisle when he told her that she was playing favourites, and she had told him that he was wrong about his suspicion that something was troubling their daughter. On top of that she had actively made it worse by rebuking her and actually grounding and even disciplining her.

She felt horrible, absolutely horrible. If it were possible, she would travel back in time and change everything that went wrong. Today and the days before might have never happened and she was sure that neither she nor Rosalie would be sad about it. But at least this day had put an end to these misunderstandings and really made them sit down and talk about everything. And she would have definitely tried to save her daughter from the humiliation she had experienced on her first day of school.

And suddenly that train of thought reminded her of something Rosalie had said to her earlier.

"Rosie … why did you say I humiliated you?" Rose had accused her of doing just that and Esme still didn't quite understand why, because she had sent everyone out of the house so they would have some privacy. But this talk was supposed to bring light into the dark, and so she just asked.

Rosalie's eyes narrowed for a moment, and her voice darkened. "Because you did. You were giving Edward what he wanted to happen, and on top of that he was able to watch."

Esme thought about that when it finally dawned on her. At least she hadn't done everything wrong, she realised. "I know that Edward can see what Alice sees. What happened here today was a private matter between you and me and I wanted to keep it that way."

Rosalie looked over her shoulder and frowned at her.

"I count on Alice to not share her visions when she knows that what she sees is meant to stay private. And I didn't want to fuel the fire of your and Edward's quarrel. Edward is in the forest with Jasper, while Alice and Emmett went into town to do some shopping for me."

That did surprise Rose and she couldn't keep herself from showing it. She really hadn't expected Esme to be so thoughtful and make sure that Edward wouldn't see what was happening here so he wouldn't have something to tease her with. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth before a hint of sadness hushed over her face.

Esme was excited to see Rosalie smile again, but unfortunately it didn't happen. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Rosalie shook her head like she thought it was silly, but after some hesitation she said, "You split Jasper and Alice up." With each passing year it became more and more obvious that these two deserved a medal for everything they had to endure in this family. Even though they practically never screwed up, they had to leave the house, get split up, have to drive their siblings around, and always act responsible and show everyone understanding.

Esme pressed her lips together like she hadn't been comfortable with her decision, but she didn't really have much of a choice. "I had to. It's only for a few hours… I was sure they would understand."

A light snort came from Rose. "They would never complain," she remarked.

"I didn't want to have them all together, as Edward would be able to see Alice's visions. And I didn't want to send Emmett and Edward on a hunt together…," Esme explained and noticed that Rosalie nodded her head in agreement. Emmett had called for her before Esme came up to her room, and she was sure that he had known she was in some kind of trouble. Yep, Emmett might have done something to Edward he wouldn't even feel bad about. But dismembering a family member was not allowed, even if it was wellfounded.

"Rosalie… your father reminded me that I never asked you where you went when you took the car today." Carlisle had made it sound like it would have been some important information, and she figured that he might be right. He had been right about everything lately, it seemed, and so she decided to ask.

She could hear Rose take a quick breath, but she never exhaled. There was no doubt in Esme's mind that she was contemplating whether or not to tell her where she had been. Eventually she lifted her head and mumbled, "I bought paint… for the scratch in Carlisle's car."

"I told you I didn't want you to fix it."

"Yes, and I told you it wouldn't make any sense!" she protested and whipped her head around to glare at her mother. "I'm good with cars, I have fixed more dents and scratches than I can count! Why do you suddenly don't trust me any more? I won't damage it further, I know _exactly_ what to do."

"That's not what I was concerned about," she told her softly and shook her head, making Rosalie groan in frustration.

"What is it then? Why were you refusing to let me take care of it and then trying to rub it in by demonstratively driving the car around in the rain when you could have taken mine?"

Esme frowned. "You thought I was _purposely_ trying to anger you? That's what you thought? That I would really do something like that?"

All of a sudden the slightly shocked tone of voice did make Rose feel uncomfortable admitting to it, but yes, that was what she had thought. Esme had never given her any reason to not see it that way.

"Rosie, I… oh God, I never thought about it that way, I am so sorry. I…," and then Esme sighed before she continued, "I didn't want to take your car because it felt wrong to me after grounding you from driving it. And I didn't want you to work on Carlisle's car because I wanted to make sure that you and Edward wouldn't argue about this."

Rose didn't say anything, just frowned at her mother who wanted to give her an explanation that didn't really make any sense. The silence as Rose didn't respond seemed to make Esme nervous, and so she quickly continued to explain.

"I never realised that it would come across like that, Rose. Edward scratched your father's car … and I thought if you would fix his mistake, fix what he had accidentally done … well, I thought it would lead to trouble. He would have felt ashamed and embarrassed … and you-"

"You thought I would have _teased_ him," Rose concluded with an icy voice. Well, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to her – Esme always blamed her for whatever was wrong with her golden boy. And teasing … oh, how she hated that word and how she hated that Esme always thought that she had nothing better to do with her time than picking on that idiot like a little child. She had barely talked to him lately, tried to ignore him as much as possible – what else was she supposed to do?

"Why am I even talking to you ...," Rose asked with a glum sigh, but it sounded more like she was asking herself than Esme.

"No, please Rosalie. You can always talk to me, I don't want you to think that-"

The look Rosalie gave her made her realise that it sounded more like empty words than the actual truth. Rose probably didn't believe a single word she was saying - what happened during the last few days didn't really back up her statement. She sighed and rubbed a hand over her forehead to ease the frustration she was feeling with herself. How long would it take to mend their relationship? She wanted it to go back to the way it had been before they had moved to Forks, wanted everyone to get along and be happy. But at least this talk was the first step. Rosalie wanted the same as she did, otherwise she wouldn't have asked for this private talk with her. Yes, together they would be able to fix this, she just needed to be honest and try harder to listen to her children even if they weren't saying anything at all. "I understand that it's hard for you to believe me right now, but I promise you that I won't let this happen again. I love you so much and I never meant to treat you like you weren't important to me. I think I have to admit that I did play favourites, even though I never intended to do something like that. I love all of you equally."

"Are you listening to yourself?"

"Rose, I mean what I said. It's just that you and Emmett have each other, and Jasper and Alice have each other ... Edward hasn't been that fortunate yet. He really wants to find a mate, his true mate, but it just hasn't happened yet. I love all of you, please don't you ever doubt that. But you need to understand that sometimes Edward isn't feeling well and needs a bit more attention and care."

"That isn't the problem. The problem is that you are so taken by him that you would never doubt anything he tells you. He is fooling you all the time to make sure that you think I am to blame for his moods, and so you didn't even give me the chance to explain anything," Rose said and looked down at the bed spread. "You just didn't care."

There was a kind of sadness in Rose's voice that broke Esme's heart. Apparently she had favourited Edward to the extent that her other children felt like they were only of secondary importance to her. "You are right, I realise now that I haven't been fair with you. But please believe me when I tell you that this will change."

Rose sighed while thinking about her mother's words. She sounded sincere, and she couldn't imagine that Esme would be lying about this. She seemed really anxious to avoid making the same mistakes again. But she had done mistakes as well … starting with not opening up to Carlisle. And letting her temper get away from her. And, of course, not ignoring this stupid idiot Edward a lot more. Maybe she needed to be a bit more nonchalant about everything, just like Emmett was. He had trouble taking anything seriously, but sometimes this was indeed the best way to deal with things. She took a deep breath before turning around on the bed, facing her mother completely for the first time and nod her head.

The tension vanished from Esme's face – she was still feeling bad, but at least now she knew that they could work on it again and that Rosalie wouldn't be leaving. Ever since their family had been growing, they had spent less and less time really talking about anything and everything like they used to. They had gotten so close over the course of the first few years, and that had been a great basis for their mother-daughter relationship, she thought - unfortunately their relationship wasn't the same anymore.

"I think this talk was long overdue."

"Yes."

"But Rosalie, please don't you ever think you couldn't come to us and tell us when something like this happens. I see that you didn't want to share this with me as I haven't been very fair with you lately, I understand that. But you could have told your father. He was so concerned about you."

Rose had hoped she wouldn't ask. She didn't like admitting that talking about her feelings made her really uncomfortable. She would be vulnerable when she would open up to someone about what happened and how it made her feel, and that scared her. Additionally it made her feel bad to hear that Carlisle had been really worried, but she had refused to tell him what was going on. "I have never talked to him about... what is missing in my life, so he wouldn't understand. He would think I'm being silly."

"Oh Rose...," Esme sighed. "Of course he would understand. And I can assure you that there is nothing silly about it, your father would never think that. I felt exactly the same way in the beginning."

Hearing her say that made her feel a bit better because that way she knew that Esme understood why this was so hard for her. But it also made her feel worse, because she knew what it felt like not being able to conceive and knowing that Esme had to go through the same was horrible for her. She didn't wish this upon anyone.

"I think it's terrible what happened, Rose, and I know Carlisle would be just as appalled."

She saw Rose nod her head, but knew she would still have the same doubts about telling him if a situation like this would ever happen again - not that she would let it happen again.

Esme scooted closer towards Rose and she was glad that her daughter did not move away. Slowly she lifted her arms and when she still didn't see any reluctance or the like, she put them around Rose and hugged her to herself. It felt so good to embrace her again, and when she felt Rose's hands on her back, returning the hug, tears welled up in her eyes. She had basically betrayed her daughter, but she would still be the one trying to fix this.

"Can you forgive me?" Esme whispered.

A lot had happened and during the last couple of days Rosalie had felt so unwell, at school as well as at home. She was in the habit of bottling up her feelings without talking about it, and so they would build up and make it harder for her to deal with. Now she indeed felt a lot better after admitting to her mother what had taken place and seeing that a lot of the frustration and anger had only been due to a row of misunderstandings between her and Esme. Hearing Esme's side of the story made it so much easier as well, because now she could see that Esme wasn't purposely picking on her but had only tried to keep the atmosphere in the house as comfortable as possible. She hadn't suddenly stopped loving her and the way it looked like, she would never do - a lot of the problems that had occurred lately had been due to a lack of communication.

And it also helped that Esme could relate to her deep sadness and anger over not being able to bear children. She just felt that Esme knew exactly where she was coming from, as she had probably been suffering a lot until she and Carlisle had decided to 'adopt'.

Rosalie had really missed talking to Esme so openly - before the family grew, they had been really close and had practically been best friends.

_So could she forgive Esme?_

Admittedly, she still felt hurt over having been treated by her mother like she was unwanted and being accused of lying and whatnot. This feeling wouldn't immediately cease, she realised, but it would fade with time when she would see that Esme was serious about what she had told her and tried to pay more attention to all of her children, not just Edward.

And she really wanted to forgive her. She wanted their relationship to go back to the way it had been, she wanted to feel at home here, and she wanted for everyone to stop worrying.

It just wasn't fair that Carlisle, Jasper and Alice, and even her big bear Em had to endure so much drama without being the cause for all of this mess.

Rosalie pulled out of the hug, looked her in the eye and started nodding her head. "Yes. And I am sorry, Esme."

"What are you apologising for, Rose?" she asked because at that moment she somehow wasn't able to recall anything Rose had done wrong.

"I have been very rude to you lately, and I am sorry for that. It won't happen again."

Esme immediately embraced her again and pressed her to herself when she heard that. "It's already forgiven and forgotten, dear."

They sat there for a while without saying anything, just enjoying each other's presence and the feeling of relief that the series of misunderstandings had hopefully come to an end now. Esme had to admit that Edward would still be her youngest, her baby, but she was really determined to make sure to pay more attention to all of her children and what they were trying to tell her. So hearing Edward's side of this story would be very interesting indeed, as this was the kind of 'sibling love' she was not willing to allow.

"I am so glad we talked, Rose."

"Me, too."

"We'll think of something regarding school," Esme assured her and stroked her hair gently, feeling immensely blessed that she had not lost her child and that they had finally spend time listening to each other. She wanted to do everything in her power to help Rose feel better.

"Do you think Carlisle is worrying about us?" Rose suddenly asked while slowly easing out of the hug.

Esme smiled at her and wiped a stray tear away. "No," she said, "I think he trusted you to get me to see reason."

Rose put her hand over Esme's and gave it a rub. "Esme … _Mom_, please don't cry."

Reaching out, Esme tucked a strand of Rose's hair behind her ear. "I'm just relieved, Rosie," she said and gave her a smile that showed just how incredibly relieved she was.

"Do you think Emmett could come home now? I'd like to see him." She wasn't sure if it would be considered rude to ask for him now and break up this moment between them, but she really wanted him here with her.

"Of course, love, of course. You two could fix your windshield together," Esme said while stroking Rose's hair one more time before getting up from the bed.

"... fix my windshield?" Rose asked in a confused tone of voice, then averted her eyes because she was a little embarrassed as she remembered that her mother had found out about her little trip and what had happened after that.

"I saw the rock chip. That's why I sent Alice and Emmett into town … I wanted them to get a windshield repair kit, as well as floor paint for the garage. Maybe Carlisle could pick them up, I'll go ask him."

Esme was almost out of the door when Rosalie called, "Wait!"

She got up from her bed, looking at her mother with wide eyes. "You… told them to get a repair kit…_ for me_? You really did that?"

"Yes. I knew the damage would irk you and I didn't think you would learn anything from seeing it every day without having the right utensils to fix it. You weren't allowed to drive, but you were allowed to work on your car, of course. I know that it calms you," Esme explained, but she sounded a bit embarrassed.

"Most of the sets you can buy at the stores are rubbish," Rose told her without really knowing why she was mentioning that.

"Oh."

"But nevermind, Mom, it's okay," Rose said with a smile and shook her head lightly while the smile grew wider. "Well, it's great, actually. Thank you."

Esme sighed, then returned the smile before leaving the room in search of her husband.

* * *

When Rose came down the stairs a few minutes later, she could hear muffled voices coming from the kitchen.

Esme didn't sound too happy ... well, actually she just sounded tired and a bit exasperated. Apparently Alice had chosen a floor paint with a very interesting colour for the garage and now Esme needed to make sure that Emmett would_ not_ use it. Rose had to admit that they would be the only family in the whole state with a pink garage and that it would indeed brighten up the room ... but then she dismissed the image with a shake of her head. It wouldn't go well with her bright red convertible so she would not back her little sister up this time, no.

Rose reached the last step but didn't go any further, because she could hear distinct footsteps heading for the foyer she was standing in. This was her Emmett, she recognised his heavy footfalls and his scent was fresh in the air like he had just come home along with Alice.

"How are you, babe?" Emmett asked when he spotted his wife. With a few quick strides he was with her and looked her up and down to check if she was all right.

"Fine," she replied and took his hand in hers, happy and relieved that he was here with her now and that this huge burden had been lifted off her chest. She and Esme had managed to clear up any misunderstandings, they were able to talk about everything and now she could at least relax at home. School would still suck for another while, but right now there was nothing she could do about it.

"Did you ...?" he asked, but when Rose just gave him a weird look because she had no clue what he was getting at, a sheepish expression appeared on his face. He looked down at the ground, but didn't succeed in keeping the odd curiosity at bay. "Let me see."

He lifted the back of her skirt up, only to have her turn away with a gasp and slap at his hand. "Emmett!"

"What?" he asked with wide eyes, giving her a confused look. "Come on, it's not like I haven't seen that part of you before, Rosie."

"Stop it," she said warningly, her eyes narrowed, and smoothed her skirt back down with one hand while her other one was pressed firmly against her mate's chest to keep him away from her backside in case he would try again to take a peek at it.

Alice's stiffled giggles and Carlisle's soft chuckle let Rose know that this little interaction hadn't gone unheard or unseen by the other members of their family that were currently home with them. Yes, they were standing in the living room where they had a good view of them.

Rose rolled her eyes at them, then put her arms around her mate who let his hands run up and down her back. He bent down until their foreheads touched, and they gazed lovingly into each other's eyes.

"Rose," Esme called to gain her daughter's attention. She felt a little bad about breaking up this moment between her two children, but she had something for Rose and she wanted her to have it now.

And indeed, Rose pulled back and looked questioningly at her mother - it was exactly the right moment to see that Esme was throwing something in her direction. She reached out and caught it in mid air, hearing the clinking of the little metal pieces as she closed her hand around them.

She was frowning when she looked down at her fist, then back at Esme who just smiled at her before motioning for her to open her hand.

"Your keys," Esme said with a smile, then grabbed Carlisle by the hand and pulled him out of the room so their children would have some privacy.

Emmett's eyes widened and his lips formed the shape of an 'O' while he looked at his wife. The corners of her lips twitched as she held her car keys up and looked at them, then closed her hand around them again and gazed into the face of her mate. A low chuckle built in his chest as she suddenly smiled at him, and he couldn't help but feel immensely relieved that his mother and his wife had finally managed to talk things through.

Putting an arm around Rosalie's shoulders, Emmett led her in the direction of the garage, because he knew that she might want to work on her car now. They could still take his car in case she wanted to go somewhere, because when he and Alice had come home, the first thing he got from his mother was a kiss and his own car keys.

And while they passed through the kitchen, they could hear Esme asking Alice to give Jasper and Edward a call to let them know that they should come home now.

~THE END~

* * *

**Yep, Emmy wanted to show himself one last time before the story would end, haha!  
**

**I hope you liked this little parallel story and see that it takes two to tango! Those evil little vampires, tzk tzk tzk... But at least now Esme knows what happened and Rose is starting to feel better.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing and adding this story to your alerts and favourites, guys! I'm amazed, I didn't even have to force you to read it ;-) Thank you so much!**

******And now that this is finished, I need to upload the next chapter of Jasper's story... poor boy is still doing yard work with Em... I'm sure he absolutely detests me by now. Just imagine doing yard work with Em for three months straight, LOL! I'm definitely not his favourite person in the world... :D**

**Uh, before I forget: I'll be uploading a new Edward One-shot in a few days, I just need to add the 'finishing touches' and find a decent title. It will be... magical *sigh*  
**


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